Laurent Boix-Vives, Timothy Harmon and Charles Exon have been appointed to the Quiksilver Board of Directors effective December 1, 2005. Douglas Ammerman was previously appointed to the Board of Directors on June 3, 2005.
Laurent Boix-Vives served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Skis Rossignol S.A. from his purchase of the French based global winter sports and golf (Cleveland) company in 1955 until Rossignol's combination with Quiksilver earlier this year. Mr. Boix-Vives is internationally recognized as a pioneer and leading innovator in the alpine ski industry, and is one of Europe's leading businessmen and public figures, having been elected as an officer of the Legion d' Honneur and Commander, National Grade of Merit. Among other accomplishments, Mr. Boix-Vives was a founding member and CEO of the French Institute for Economic Development, a Vice President of MEDEF, the French national business council, and a member of the organizing committee for the Winter Olympic games at Albertville in 1992.
Timothy H. Harmon served as Pacific Sunwear, Inc.'s President and Chief Merchandising Officer from October 1997 until July 2005. Mr. Harmon joined Pacific Sunwear, Inc. in September 1991 and was instrumental in the rapid and successful growth of the company into a leading, national teen retailer. Prior to Pacific Sunwear, Mr. Harmon served in various merchandising positions at Wideworld/MTV Sportswear, Chauvin International and Miller's Outpost.
Charles Exon joined Quiksilver, Inc. in August of 2000 and has served as Secretary, General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs – International since that time. Previously, Mr. Exon had been outside corporate counsel for the Company for over ten years. Mr. Exon is also a director of the Quiksilver Foundation, a non-profit organization.
Douglas Ammerman is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Masters Degree in Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. He began his career in 1973 with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell (now KPMG). He was admitted to the KPMG partnership in 1984 and formally retired from KPMG in 2002. Mr. Ammerman has served as the Chairman of the Company's Audit Committee and as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee since his appointment to the Board in June 2005.
Bob McKnight, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Quiksilver Inc., commented, “We are very pleased to welcome Laurent, Tim, Charlie and Doug to our Board of Directors. Laurent is a true legend in the ski industry and possesses a wealth of experience, particularly with regard to building iconic brands on a global scale. We believe his input will be invaluable as we look to take Rossignol to its next evolution as the world's powerhouse in outdoor, lifestyle sports. We know, because of years of patronage, that Tim's merchandising expertise has been instrumental in Pacific Sunwear's transformation into one of today's leading teen retailers. We are excited to have his tremendous level of insight into product trends and specialty retailing and look forward to benefiting from his industry knowledge and expertise. Doug's experience in public accounting and our industry brings an essential resource to the Board, and he has been designated as the Board's financial expert. Finally, Charlie has proven himself over the years to be a tremendous advisor on a wide range of subjects from purely legal to overall global transactions. His experience and appreciation of our global history and people make him a tremendous asset to our management team, and we expect his contributions to be equally valuable to the Board of Directors.”
Mr. McKnight continued, “We are excited to welcome these gentlemen to the Board of Directors and believe that they will be extremely effective in helping us chart a strategic course that will result in long-term growth and continued market-leading returns for our shareholders. We remain committed to building on our industry leading position and fully capitalizing on the many opportunities that still lay ahead.”
