SAN DIEGO COUNTY - News from Feb. 9, 1989

Donald V. Fites has been elected president and chief operating officer of Caterpillar Inc., effective June 1. He will succeed Peter P. Donis, who will retire May 31 in accordance with the Peoria, Ill., company’s retirement policy. Glen A. Barton succeeds Fites as executive vice president.

Barton, 49, who has been president of Caterpillar’s Solar Turbines subsidiary in San Diego since 1987, will be replaced by Richard L. Thompson, currently a vice president of Solar.