As expected, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) announced Monday afternoon that SCTE president and CEO John Clark is leaving the organization effective July 4 "to pursue other interests." (See SCTE's Clark Departing.)

The SCTE executive committee board voted not to extend Clark's contract several weeks ago, but opted not to make an official announcement until after this year's Cable-Tec Expo, which took place last week in Philadelphia. However, word of Clark's coming departure started to circulate last month in New Orleans at The Cable Show.

Clark, who oversees all aspects of the Society, became president of SCTE in 1998 and added the CEO title in 2000. He was awarded the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) "Vanguard Award for Associates and Affiliates" in 2003.

Marv Nelson, SCTE's vice president of professional development, has been appointed interim president and CEO until Clark's successor is named.

"With John leaving, it gives us an opportunity to look for a change in direction and leadership, as necessary, to continue the good work that John has done," says Tom Gorman, the chairman of the SCTE board of directors, and an engineering exec with Charter Communications Inc. .

SCTE, which heads up cable's standards efforts, including a new initiative called "RF over Glass," has tapped Frank Eichenlaub, the western vice chair of the Society's board of directors, to chair the search committee, which will also seek input from past SCTE chairmen and engineering execs from cable MSOs. (See Fog Lifting on RFOG.)

The committee does not have a hard deadline to find a successor for Clark, but "it's our desire to have a person in this role by the end of the year," Gorman says.

SCTE, a non-profit organization based in Exton, Pa., founded in 1969, has more than 14,000 members and is made up of north of 68 chapters.

The 2009 version of Expo is set for next October in Denver. Under a new, consolidated cable show model, it will share the spotlight with other events, including the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) Summit, The Cable Center Cable Hall of Fame dinner, and the Walter Kaitz Foundation dinner, among several others. (See Cable's Über Bundle.)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News