ADVA Optical Networking announced that Brian Protiva is to step down as CEO. After a transition period of several weeks, Protiva will assume the role of vice chairman of Acorn HoldCo, Inc. (the holding company of Adtran and ADVA). During Protiva’s 25-year tenure as chief executive officer, he successfully steered the company from a small start-up to an industry leader in metro WDM and Ethernet access devices.
Christoph Glingener will be appointed ADVA’s new CEO and will also continue as the company’s CTO. ADVA said Glingener will continue to support ADVA’s business combination with Adtran while maintaining his current work as CTO.
“Working side-by-side with Brian for eight years, I was privileged to see one of the industry‘s true leaders develop a world-class company. During his 25 years as ADVA’s CEO, Brian helped define a whole new landscape of innovation and possibilities,” said Nikos Theodosopoulos, chairman of ADVA’s supervisory board. “From broadband connectivity to mobile communications to data security, Brian played an integral role in building the infrastructure that forms many of today’s foundational building blocks. And this commitment to the industry isn’t going to end here. As a board member of Adtran, he will continue to help steer the industry and drive a new wave of opportunities.”
https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom
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