Extending its reach and further strengthening its overseas operations, Suntech has completed a major executive reshuffle including the appointment of a new COO and three regional presidents.
David Hogg (pictured left), former head of Suntech Europe, has been promoted to company COO; replacing him in the Suntech Europe presidential role is Jerry Stokes, whose former title was former vice president of business development and strategy for Europe. Steven Chan, former president of global sales and marketing and chief strategy officer, has been named president of Suntech America.
Hongkuan Jiang, who had held the role of vice president of human resources, has been promoted to chief human resources officer of Suntech, while former vice president of global product strategy Andrew Beebe has taken the title of chief commercial officer, with responsibility for the company’s global sales and marketing. James Hu, former vice president of Suntech APMEA, has been promoted to president of Suntech APMEA.
David Hogg’s former roles prior to joining Suntech in 2009 include founder and CEO of CSG Solar AG (Germany). He began his 20 years in the solar industry with Unisearch, where he was responsible for commercializing technologies developed by the university’s solar research teams. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New South Wales.
Jerry Stokes (right) brought over 20 years’ experience in the energy industry to Suntech on joining in 2007 when the company acquired MSK Corporation. He had been serving as vice president of international sales and marketing for the company, prior to which he held roles as sales and marketing director of AEA Technology Battery Systems and sales director with the battery division of Sanyo Energy UK. Jerry has an honours degree in metallurgy from Brunel University in England.
Steven Chan joined Suntech in 2006, and has since then led the expansion of the company’s U.S. operations and helped to build the company’s sales, investor relations, marketing, business development and legal functions. Former roles include acting CEO and general counsel of CDC Corporation. He is a qualified corporate attorney, with a J.D. from Boston College Law School and an A.B. degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Hongkuan Jiang, a relative newcomer to Suntech, brought over 20 years’ human resources experience to the company when he joined earlier this year, having held human resources manager or directorial roles for companies such as General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and GDF Suez in the past. He has a Ph.D. in international political economy from York University, Canada and an M.A. degree from the Beijing Institute of Foreign Affairs.
Andrew Beebe joined Suntech in 2008 as a result of the company’s acquisition of EI Solutions, a California-based solar installer. He founded Energy Innovations, was a partner at clean-tech consulting firm Clean Edge, and co-founder and CEO of Bigstep. He has a B.A. in government from Dartmouth College.
James (Huiming) Hu came to Suntech in 2007 and worked on sales and project management in the China market prior to his appointment as vice president of Suntech APMEA. Previous roles included product marketing director for Siemens China. James has a Master’s degree in photoelectronics from Shandong University.
“As Suntech enters its next phase of development, with mature operations across every major market and region, we are confident that we have the right team assembled to guide us along our journey ahead,” said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech chairman and CEO. “The opportunities for Suntech have never been greater, and it’s exciting that we have strong and passionate professionals eager to step up and take on more responsibility.”
