Thorsten Heins: President and CEO
The new president and CEO of Research In Motion Ltd. has been with the company since 2007.
Thorsten Heins, 54, was one of RIM's chief operating officers until Sunday's announcement. Before that, he was senior vice-president of the BlackBerry Handheld Business Unit, where he played key roles in the creation of RIM's product portfolio.
Prior to working at RIM, Heins rose through the ranks of industrial conglomerate Siemens AG, where he served various roles after joining the company in 1984. His positions included CEO of various business divisions, chief technology officer and member of the group board of the Siemens Communication Group.
Heins was born in Germany and graduated from the University of Hannover with a master's degree in science and physics. He is married and has a daughter and a son.
Barbara Stymiest: Independent board chair
Former Toronto Stock Exchange chief Barbara Stymiest will become the independent board chair.
Stymiest has served as a director of RIM since 2007.
She has held positions as CEO at TSX Group Inc., executive vice-president and chief financial officer at BMO Nesbitt Burns, and partner of Ernst & Young LLP.
Stymiest has also served as a member of the Royal Bank of Canada Group Executive, and is currently a director of George Weston Ltd., Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the Royal Ontario Museum.
She was named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 most powerful women in global business three times from 2006 to 2008.
She has an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and is an FCA with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.
Prem Watsa: Board member
The board was expanded to 11 members with the addition of Prem Watsa, the CEO of financial services holding company Fairfax Financial Holdings.
He's held the position since 1985. The firm famously cashed in on the U.S. mortgage fiasco and housing collapse of 2008 with well-timed purchases of credit default swaps.
Fairfax's corporate objective is to is to achieve a high rate of return on invested capital and build long-term shareholder value.
Watsa is also the vice-president of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd., and formerly served as vice-president of GW Asset Management.
