The National Investor Relations Institute has elected Douglas Wilburne, vice president of investor relations for Textron, as the 2011 chairman of its board of directors. He succeeds Brad Wilks, CEO and managing director of Sard Verbinnen & Co.

During his tenure as NIRI chair, Wilburne said he plans to focus on three items of particular focus: membership growth as the economy recovers; continuing to deepen NIRI’s influence through advocacy and professional development activities; and improving NIRI’s effectiveness for all members based on an in-depth strategic review of the organization.

At Textron, Wilburne is responsible for communicating Textron's strategy and financial performance to investment and business communities worldwide. He serves on the company’s Executive Leadership Team and Enterprise Finance Council. Prior to joining Textron, Wilburne established an investor relations program at Rite Aid, and also headed investor relations for AMP Incorporated, until the company merged with Tyco International. Prior to joining AMP, he spent 20 years at Bell Atlantic Corporation, where he held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, operations, regulatory, finance and treasury, ultimately serving as director of investor relations.

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