Widmar will succeed James Zhu, who has been interim CFO since January 1, 2011. Zhu will retain his role as First Solar's Chief Accounting Officer.
Widmar joins First Solar effective April 4, 2011, from Graftech International Ltd., a leading global manufacturer of advanced carbon and graphite materials, where he was CFO and president of the Engineered Solutions segment. Prior to joining Graftech in 2006, Widmar worked at NCR Corporation from 2003 as corporate controller and a business unit CFO. Before that he was a division controller for Dell, Inc. and a business unit CFO for Lucent Technologies.
"Mark brings nearly 25 years of experience in finance, accounting and controlling to First Solar," said Rob Gillette, CEO of First Solar. "We are confident that Mark's expertise and his track record of delivering results make him the right leader for our finance organization."
Widmar earned a B.S. in business accounting and an M.B.A. in finance from Indiana University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
