NOTES ON PEOPLE (10/12/97)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Appointed president and CEO of Planet Direct

WILMINGTON, Mass. - Hans G. Hawrysz was named president and CEO of Planet Direct Inc., a Web-based consumer information service. Previously Mr. Hawrysz was executive vice-president of electronic commerce for AT&T's Universal Card Services (UCS) unit.

Mr. Hawrysz brings to Planet Direct an extensive background in strategic planning, new product and business development, consumer and institutional marketing, and database utilization. With UCS since its launch in 1990, Mr. Hawrysz played a vital role in the start-up effort's growth to its present position as the second-largest credit card issuer in the U.S., with over 15 million customers and $2.5 billion in revenues, as well as winner of the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award.

"The Internet is undergoing a profound change from an exciting toy to a critical tool in the lives of everyday people, and that's the hallmark of an immense opportunity," said Mr. Hawrysz. "Planet Direct offers a service that will make the Internet a powerful part of mainstream life, and I'm very excited at the prospect of maximizing the true potential of the company and its services."

At AT&T, Mr. Hawrysz was responsible for developing new Internet commerce enabling services, including smart cards, e-cash, Internet payments, and electronic billing and paying.

The Planet Direct (http://www.planetdirect.com) service offers personalized news, weather, reviews, yellow pages, mapping, Web searches, chat, reviews, travel and product information free to customers of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), whose resources are primarily devoted to optimizing their computer networks and customer service centers.

Mr. Hawrysz and his wife, Daria, have one daughter, Aleksa. He is a member of UNA Branch 83 in Philadelphia. His father, Stepan Hawrysz, is chairman of the UNA Auditing Committee.

Named senior vice-president at ITI Medical Technologies

LIVERMORE, Calif. - Dr. Andrew A. Zwarun was appointed senior vice-president for product and market development of ITI Medical Technologies Inc. of Livermore in August.

Dr. Zwarun, formerly vice-president of MRI at E-Z-EM Inc. of Westbury, N.Y., will have responsibility for developing the business around ITI's emerging product lines in electrosurgical and interventional MRI devices.

Howard S. Stern, co-founder and chairman of E-Z-EM, stated that "Spurred by the efforts of Dr. Zwarun, E-Z-EM became the first company to develop and commercialize MR-compatible interventional devices, including biopsy needles and breast lesion marking systems. Our relationship with ITI and their staff of renowned scientists and healthcare professionals should provide E-Z-EM with a source of interventional devices for this segment of the imaging market."

Dr. Zwarun's appointment at ITI was part of an agreement in which E-Z-EM acquired a 25 percent holding in ITI in a strategic alliance between the two companies.

Dr. Zwarun, a resident of Roslyn Heights, N.Y., will remain based in Westbury. He is a member of UNA Branch 328.

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