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Head of ACNielsen North America Leaves Company
VNU has announced that Tim Callahan, President of ACNielsen North America, is leaving the company on October 3rd to become CEO of the consumer group at Berwind, a family-owned investment management company. The search for a successor is underway.
VNU said it will shortly announce a new North American President, to be responsible for the overall management, business performance and strategic direction of the company in the US and Canada. In the interim, Steve Schmidt, President and CEO of ACNielsen and Executive VP of VNU Marketing Information, will take charge of the company's US business. Pat Gardiner, the company's President for Canada, will continue to oversee the Canadian business.
Callahan's departure is the latest in several changes at the top of the company: prior to his current position in Canada, Gardiner was President of Emerging Markets - a role filled this summer by Lennart Bengtsson, former MD for Japan. Patrick Dodd, formerly President for ACNielsen Canada, was recently promoted to Group MD, Central Europe.
Callahan joined the company in 2000 as Executive VP, and served as President for the US division before taking on responsibility for North America as a whole. Before that, he was President of Beverages and Latin American operations for Campbell Soup Company.
The companies' web sites are at www.acnielsen.com and www.berwind.com.

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