Bill Klitgaard has been named corporate senior vice president and chief information officer at Covance, where he was serving as chief financial officer. Mr. Klitgaard will replace John Repko, who was recruited to lead the information technology function at a large, diversified industrial services company. The chief financial officer role will be assumed by Alison Cornell, currently vice president, global financial planning and analysis.

“These executive appointments strengthen our finance and information technology organizations and highlight the depth of our management bench,” said Joe Herring, Covance’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Both Bill and Alison are proven executives who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, consistently contributing to the company’s growth. John built a strong information technology team at Covance; I thank him for his years of service to the company and wish him well in his new role.”

During Mr. Klitgaard’s 15 years at Covance, including his 12 years as chief financial officer, he demonstrated a wide range of financial, strategic, and information technology skills. Informatics, an area of innovation for Covance that currently reports to him, will be folded into his newly expanded role. As an executive sponsor of Covance’s IT steering committee, Mr. Klitgaard played a critical leadership role in the development and funding of the company’s major IT investments. Under his leadership, Covance implemented a complex, enterprise-wide finance system on time and on budget, according to a Covance statement.

Ms. Cornell joined Covance in 2004 from AT&T, where she served as financial vice president, forecasting, performance and investment analysis, heading finance for a $30 billion division. She was a key member of the clinical development leadership team from 2004 through 2010, serving as its finance leader, and played a critical role in transforming that business into a major growth driver for the company. She has been a driving force in the evaluation and lowering of the company’s cost structure, and successfully designed and executed programs which have significantly lowered the company’s DSOs.