NATION

Bell & Howell Co. elected Gerald E. Schultz president and chief operating officer.

Schultz, 44, was serving as the Skokie, Ill., company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. He remains a director of the company, which is in publishing, career education, visual-presentation systems and videocassette duplication.

Schultz succeeds Robert B. Huff, who resigned but will remain as a consultant.