Zschau Resigns After Less Than Month on Job

Ed Zschau, whose unsuccessful campaign last year to replace Alan Cranston in the Senate was dogged by charges of flip-flopping, has resigned as chairman of System Industries Inc. after less than a month on the job.

The resignation of the 47-year-old Zschau, coupled with that of James K. Dutton, the 54-year-old president and chief executive, cleared the way for System Industries to name Robert W. Duncan, 51, as chairman, president and chief executive.

Zschau, who founded System Industries in 1969 but left the company in 1982 to run for the House, and Dutton will stay on as directors of the Milpitas company, a supplier of peripheral equipment for minicomputers. Neither was available for comment.

Zschau’s tenure as chairman “wasn’t intended to be so short,” said Deborah Dalzell, the corporate treasurer. “It is just that Ed, along with the other officers and directors, wanted to send a very clear signal that Mr. Duncan is now at the helm.”

Duncan most recently was adjunct associate dean of the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota. Before that, he served in various capacities during a 25-year career at Control Data Corp.