TXU Corp., an $8.4 billion energy company based in Dallas, Texas, named Stan Szlauderbach controller and senior vice president. He succeeds Scott Longhurst, who left to join a U.K. water utility, AWG plc. Szlauderbach, 56, TXU's assistant controller since he was hired in 2001, has served as interim controller since Longhurst's departure in September 2004. Before joining TXU, Szlauderbach spent 14 years in accounting and financial reporting positions at PepsiCo Inc.

Levi Strauss & Co., the $4 billion sportswear company based in San Francisco, Calif., promoted Hans Ploos van Amstel to CFO. He succeeds Jim Fogarty, a managing director of turnaround advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal LLC, who served as interim CFO for the past year. Ploos van Amstel, 40, joined Levi Strauss in 2003 as CFO of its European division. Earlier, he spent 14 years in finance positions at The Procter & Gamble Co.

FedEx Ground Package System Inc., a $3.9 billion subsidiary of FedEx Corp., said Gretchen Smarto will succeed retiring CFO Ronald Trombetta at the end of May. Smarto, 43, has been controller and vice president of the Pittsburgh, Pa.?? 1/2 based company since 1998, when FedEx acquired Roadway Package System Inc. and renamed it FedEx Ground. Smarto joined Roadway in 1993 as director of credit and revenue accounting after spending 10 years at Ernst & Young LLP.

Global Crossing Ltd., the $2.9 billion telecommunications company based in Florham Park, N.J., named Jean Mandeville CFO and executive vice president. He replaces Daniel O'Brien, who left to pursue other interests. Mandeville, 44, most recently was CFO of Singapore Technologies Telemedia, which is the biggest holder of Global Crossing shares. Earlier, Mandeville held senior positions at British Telecom and was a senior consultant at Coopers & Lybrand International.

Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC, a $2 billion unit of defense contractor Raytheon Co. that provides technology solutions, named Susan Lynch CFO. She succeeds Lou Laroche, who was named CFO of ThalesRaytheonSystems Ltd., a joint venture between Raytheon and Thales Group. Lynch joined Reston, Va.?? 1/2 based Raytheon Technical Services from Honeywell International Inc., where she was assistant corporate controller for the global business services unit. Lynch spent most of her career at Honeywell, where she held finance and business management positions including serving as CFO for the Latin American region. Earlier, she was controller for Geonex Corp.

Medtronic Inc., the $9 billion maker of pacemakers and other medical devices, named its treasurer and controller, Gary Ellis, to succeed Robert Ryan as CFO. Ryan, 62, is retiring after serving as Medtronic's CFO since 1993. The transition should be seamless, since Ryan and Ellis have been working together for years. Ellis, 48, was named corporate controller and vice president in 1994 and added the title of treasurer in 1999. Before joining Medtronic in 1989, he spent 11 years at Price Waterhouse.

Ellis says Medtronic's finance department remains focused on how to use the cash the company generates to help it grow. With a third of the company's operations overseas, finance keeps a close eye on forex risk. And Ellis says these days it is also looking at the repatriation provision of the American Jobs Creation Act and to what extent the company should avail itself of that opportunity.

Nortel Networks Corp., the $10.1 billion telecom equipment company based in Toronto, Canada, hired a former CFO, Peter Currie, to resume that role as the company continues to recover from more than $3 billion of accounting errors. Currie, 54, most recently was vice chairman and CFO of $20 billion RBC Financial Group, parent of the Royal Bank of Canada. Currie replaces William Kerr, who is stepping down but will continue to serve as a senior advisor to Nortel's CEO, William Owens. Currie was Nortel's CFO and senior vice president from 1994 until 1997. Earlier, he held other management positions at Nortel, including controller, general auditor and vice president of finance for different business segments, after joining the company in 1979. RBC named Janice Fukakusa, its executive vice president of finance, to succeed Currie as CFO.