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Goodbye Paul Twomey
Monday, March 2. 2009
ICANN President and CEO Paul Twomey at today's Mexico City meeting opening ceremony, announcing he will be stepping down at the end of his current term on June 30th. (photo SVG).
Paul Twomey will be stepping down at the end of 2009 after 6 years as ICANN's President and CEO. Twomey explained the reasons for his desire to leave ICANN during today's Mexico City meeting opening ceremony.
"I have been President since 2003," Twomey reminded a packed main meeting room at the Sheraton Centro Historico convention centre, where the 34th ICANN meeting is taking place this week. "In fact, today is my 60th month as President. My contract expires in June and I have told the Board that I would not be seeking its renewal for another 3-year term."
Twomey, who was Chairman of ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) for 4 years before being named President, feels that staying on any longer would have been detrimental to the organisation he leads. "Another term would have meant 10 years of the same President," he said. "Also, on a more personal level, at 47 years of age I would like to hold other leadership positions in private enterprise."
Twomey's departure comes at a busy time for ICANN and in recognition of this, although his term officially ends on June 30th, he will stay on for a further 6 months to help make the transition to a new President as smooth as possible. "With so much going on for ICANN this year, the new gTLDs and the IDN ccTLDs for instance, the Board has asked me to stay on a little longer. But I want to make it clear that the new President, once appointed, will be the boss."
A special title of "Senior President" has been created for Twomey, who will help ICANN's 4th President settle in once he has been appointed on July 1st.
And who could that new President be? There's no doubt finding a replacement to head an organisation as complex as ICANN will be no easy task. "I can think of no other person who has had more influence on the course of ICANN's evolution than Paul," commented Vint Cerf, who was Chairman of ICANN's Board for 8 years, when told of Twomey's departure. "We owe him a great debt for long and faithful service and I owe him personal thanks for his counsel during my time on the Board. The Board will be challenged to find a worthy and capable successor."
To do so, the Board has hired an outside firm. "They have assured us they will have a successor for us by July 1," said current Chairman of the Board Peter Dengate Thrush during today's opening ceremony.
So if you want to run the Internet, get that CV in the post without delay ?
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