Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) has brought aboard Mary Yang as senior vice president and chief strategy officer. Yang will become responsible for driving Ciena’s corporate strategy and executing corporate development activities, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She also will provide an interface between Ciena’s engineering and product development teams, sales and marketing organization, and Chief Technology Office. Yang replaces the late James Frodsham, who passed away June 23, 2019.
Yang comes to Ciena from NIO, which designs and develops electric vehicles. She previously held senior leadership roles in strategy and corporate development at such communications companies as Fortinet, Cisco, and Nortel. Overall, Yang has more than 25 years of experience in technology and has been focused on advising companies on strategic investments, alliance opportunities, and global M&A activity, says Ciena.
Yang will report to Gary B. Smith, Ciena’s president and CEO. “Mary brings an exceptional combination of business acumen and strategic insights in the technology arena, specifically around driving leading-edge innovation and new technologies to market. Through deep analysis of market trends and industry dynamics, Mary will help accelerate Ciena’s strategy and further solidify our industry leadership position in delivering solutions that address the world’s connectivity needs,” said Smith.
"Ciena is a pioneer in groundbreaking technology and constantly redefines the limits of the industry in ways that change the way the world communicates. With Ciena’s leadership team, I look forward to carving out new opportunities for growth and strengthening our position in shaping the future of network transformation for our customers," Yang commented.
For related articles, visit the Business Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of optical communications technology, subscribe to Lightwave’s Enabling Technologies Newsletter.
