Lucent names Patricia Russo new CEO

Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies today named Eastman Kodak president and chief operating officer Ms Patricia…

Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies today named Eastman Kodak president and chief operating officer Ms Patricia Russo as its chief executive.

Ms Russo, (49) succeeds Mr Henry Schacht (67), who will serve as chairman of Lucent. The company is in the midst of restructuring and is battling a prolonged telecommunications market slump.

Ms Russo worked at Lucent and AT&T for about 20 years before joining photography giant Kodak in April as president and chief operating officer, where she helped oversee that company's restructuring program.

Lucent, which was spun-off by long-distance telephone giant AT&T in 1996, has reduced its workforce to about 77,000 from 106,000, and plans further cuts to as low as 57,000.

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It also posted a multi billion-dollar loss during fiscal 2001, eliminated money-losing or low-profit product lines and sold non-core businesses.