After nearly seventeen years as President and CEO of Pulse Data HumanWare, Inc. (formerly HumanWare, Inc.), Jim Halliday is returning to his area of passion.

"The thing I love most about our industry is the people," he explained. "People are my passion. Whether we talk about consumers, educators, employment specialists, agency leadership, co-workers or even the competitors, I have always received my greatest joy from direct contact with people."

Starting September 1, 2003, Jim will assume his new role as President Emeritus, and Director of Marketing, while maintaining his active membership on Pulse Data HumanWare’s Board of Directors.

"I am extremely dedicated to Pulse Data HumanWare’s mission and want to do everything within my power to make sure that we succeed well into the future. But after twenty-seven years in this business, I figure that I have earned the right to have a little fun before I retire."

"Although I can’t complain about the day-to-day management of a growing company or about the many adventures surrounding buy-outs, mergers, and acquisitions, I realize that the larger the company gets, the less time I spend directly serving the people for whom the company exists. In other words, everybody else has all the fun while I sit in my office doing budgets and having meetings. I plan to dedicate another four or five years to this industry, so I want those years to be focused on working with the people and projects I love."

Dr Russell Smith, Managing Director and CEO of Pulse Data International (Pulse Data HumanWare’s New Zealand-based parent) added, "We have deeply appreciated Jim’s dedication and hard work through these many years since co-founding HumanWare together in the late 1980s. We also respect his desire to dedicate his energies to more actively serving the industry by focusing outwardly on the market rather than inwardly on the operations. To ensure that we retain Jim’s expertise at the board level, we have asked him to retain a Directorship, which he has graciously accepted."

While the company searches for a new CEO, Greg Thompson, a director of Pulse Data HumanWare, and Pulse Data International’s head of Marketing & Business Development, will take over the day-to-day management of Pulse Data HumanWare.

"This is a great opportunity for me to work closely with my colleagues in North America," said Greg, "and to gain an even stronger understanding of this market, and of the customers we serve. We firmly believe that Pulse Data is already the industry leader in terms of quality and innovation, and Jim’s new role will help us take that leadership position to even higher levels."