New CEO Named at ProQuest

ProQuest LLC announced today a change in its top ranks.

According to a company press release, Kurt Sanford is going to join the company on July 13 as chief executive officer and as a member of its board of directors. He will succeed Marty Kahn, who will become vice chairman of ProQuest's board of directors and serve as a consultant for Cambridge Information Group (CIG), ProQuest's parent company.

Sanford, 53, has worked at LexisNexis the past 14 years, most recently as president for global operations of the company's global legal business. Before LexisNexis, Sanford was a consultant at Bain and Company, a global business strategy consulting firm.

Kahn, 61, has led ProQuest since it was acquired by CIG in 2007. Before joining ProQuest, Kahn was Chairman of the Board of Directors of OneSource Information Services, Inc. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ovid Technologies, Inc. and as Chairman of the Board of Vista Information Solutions.

Kahn oversaw a number of ProQuest acquisitions during his tenure, including that of ebrary earlier this year, as well as the launch of discovery service Summon by ProQuest's Serials Solutions unit in 2009. [See LJ's March 2009 Corner Office interview with Kahn here.]