Wyle Labs’ President Will Also Be CEO

Wyle Laboratories said Monday that company President Ralph L. Ozorkiewicz will assume the added duties of chief executive on March 31, when Chairman Charles M. Clough retires from that post.

Clough, 66, will remain chairman of the Irvine-based semiconductor and computer systems distribution company.

Ozorkiewicz, 48, will continue as president, a position he has held since 1992, when he was also elected to Wyle’s board.

Wyle Laboratories has expanded its electronic distribution business from $143 million in sales for 1982, the year Clough joined the business, to nearly $800 million last year. The company last month sold its scientific services business unit, which specialized in aerospace and defense products testing and engineering, to focus on electronics.

Ozorkiewicz held senior executive posts with Los Angeles-based Kierulff Electronics before joining Wyle in 1985 as executive vice president of its Electronics Marketing Group. Before that, he was with Texas Instruments for more than 10 years.

Clough, who became CEO in 1988, called Monday’s announcement part of a logical progression in the transition of the company’s senior management.

Frank S. Wyle, the company’s founding chairman and chief executive, gave up the CEO position in 1979 and retired as chairman in 1985. His successor, Stanley A. Wainer, held the position of chief executive until 1988 and was chairman until 1991. He was succeeded in both posts by Clough.