Zimmer Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday that J. Raymond Elliott will resign as chairman of the board and a member of the board of directors effective Friday, following 10 years of service with the company.
John L. McGoldrick, a current board member, will serve as non-executive chairman.
Elliott served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company from August 2001 to May 2007 when David C. Dvorak was promoted to the positions of president and chief executive officer. In November 2006, Elliott announced his plans to retire following the appointment of a successor CEO.
"My time at Zimmer has seen remarkable change," said Elliott. "I had a special opportunity to lead a great company for many years. I have especially enjoyed working with my colleagues whose collective efforts saw Zimmer recognized as a market leader and become a separate publicly held company. I wish all of them continuing success."
Zimmer said the board of directors believes the appointment of a non-executive chairman was an appropriate leadership structure for the company at this point in time.
McGoldrick has served as a director of Zimmer since 2001, and is the chair of the corporate governance committee. He currently serves as senior vice president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. He served as the general counsel and in other executive capacities with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for more than 10 years. He retired from Bristol-Myers Squibb as its executive vice president in April 2006.
