A Medical Device Daily

Medtronic (Minneapolis) said that CEO William Hawkins has been named chairman of the board of directors, effective Aug. 21, the date of the company's annual shareholders meeting. At that time, Arthur Collins Jr., present chairman, will retire from the board, consistent with the transition plan that was reported in February 2007.

Collins has served as board chairman since 2002.

The company also said that Kendall Powell, CEO/chairman of General Mills, will become chair of the board's corporate governance committee, also effective Aug. 21.

Collins joined the company in 1992 as an executive VP and president of Medtronic International. He was elected COO in 1994, president in 1996 and CEO in 2001. He also served as chairman of AdvaMed, the medical technology industry organization, from 2004 to 2006.

Hawkins was named president/CEO in August 2007. Prior to then, he was president/COO of Medtronic for more than three years. He joined the company in January 2002 as president of its Vascular business.

Before coming to Medtronic, he was president/CEO of Novoste, and prior to that held senior management posts with a number of other med-tech firms.