Coherent's Board Chairman Resigns

Bernard Couillaud, chairman of the board of Santa Clara, Calif.-based laser maker Coherent Inc., resigned, effective June 1, the company told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a June 6 filing. Couillaud, who first joined Coherent in 1983, served as the company's president and CEO from July 1996 until September 2002. He became chairman in October 2002. Coherent also said in the filing that June 4 its board appointed director Garry W. Rogerson, president and CEO of scientific instruments supplier Varian Inc., as its new chairman.