Universal Studios Hollywood president Karen Irwin will lead Universal Orlando as the current president of the Florida theme resort is set to retire after 15 years, the company announced Wednesday.
In other developments, it was announced Tom Mehrmann, who most recently serves as president of Universal Beijing Resort, is taking on the newly created role as president, Pacific Rim, Universal Parks & Resorts, overseeing Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan and Universal Beijing Resort.
The leadership changes will be effective Jan. 1, as Mark Woodbury, currently the president of Universal Creative and vice chairman, becomes chairman and CEO for Universal Parks & Resorts, following the retirement of long-serving CEO Tom Williams, according to the company. Irwin and Mehrmann will report to Woodbury as part of his executive leadership team.
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“I want to express my gratitude to Tom Williams for his leadership, his vision and for all I have learned from him,” Woodbury said in a statement. “Because of Tom’s extraordinary leadership and the work and commitment of everyone at Universal Parks & Resorts, we can be confident in and excited about the future of our business.”
Reporting to Mehrmann as business leaders will be Scott Strobl, currently senior vp operations at Universal Studios Hollywood, in the new role of executive vp and general manager of Universal Studios Hollywood, J.L. Bonnier, president of Universal Studios Japan and Joe Hoskin, executive vp and general manager of Universal Beijing Resort, according to the company.
Additional executive leadership updates effective Jan. 1 include Alice Norsworthy, currently executive vp and chief marketing officer, Universal Parks & Resorts, to become president of global marketing, Universal Parks & Resorts; Page Thompson, currently president and chief operating officer, Universal Parks & Resorts – International, to take on a new role as president, UPR New Ventures; and Michael Hightower, senior vp, executive project director for Universal Parks & Resorts, will become president of Universal Creative.
