WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell today announced that Russell Poole, former vice president and senior HR partner, has been named senior vice president, Human Resources, effective immediately. Poole will be based out of Novell's headquarters in Waltham, Mass., and will report directly to President and CEO Ron Hovsepian. Poole takes over for acting Senior Vice President of Human Resources Scott Semel. Semel continues his role as senior vice president and general counsel at Novell.

"Russell has been providing valuable direction and leadership within Human Resources as well as partnering with the Sales and Services organizations," Hovsepian said. "His expertise and breadth of knowledge will continue to be a tremendous asset to Novell's Human Resources organization, and I look forward to his added guidance as he becomes a member of the Executive Leadership Team."

Prior to joining Human Resources, Poole served in Novell's Law department as Vice President, Law - People. He has also held various supervisory and management positions within the consulting and oil and gas industries, where over a 25-year period he evaluated, managed and resolved human resources, employment, benefit, tax and transactional issues. He holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and law degrees from Michigan State University and Boston University.

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL - News) delivers the best engineered, most interoperable Linux* platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and risk. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell harmoniously integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For more information, visit www.novell.com.

Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.