Quest Diagnostics announces CFO’s successor

Quest Diagnostics named Sam Samad executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective July 11, the Secaucus-based company announced June 9.

Samad succeeds Mark Guinan, who announced in February he would retire after more than eight years in the position. Guinan will stay on until the second-quarter financial reporting is complete.

Samad joins Quest from San Diego-based Illumina Inc., where he has served as chief financial officer since 2017. Previously, he served in several leadership roles at Cardinal Health, including senior vice president and corporate treasurer, where he also had operational and financial responsibility for that company’s China business, and senior vice president and CFO for Cardinal’s $85 billion pharmaceutical segment. Samad also spent 13 years at Eli Lilly and Co. in a variety of sales and finance roles.

Jim Davis, Quest Diagnostics CEO-elect, said in a statement that he looks forward to working with Samad, adding that he “is an excellent addition to the Quest senior leadership team, bringing extensive financial, operations and industry experience through his role as CFO of Illumina and time in senior positions at other major healthcare companies.”

Steve Rusckowski, chairman, CEO and president, echoed Davis’ sentiments and called Samad “an exceptional talent.” Rusckowski himself will transition his CEO and president roles to Davis on Nov. 1.

“I am excited to join the Quest Diagnostics team and look forward to leveraging my financial and operational experience to help Quest grow and thrive in a post-pandemic world,” Samad added.

Samad earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and an MBA from McMaster University in Canada.

Each year, Quest’s diagnostic insights serve 1  in 3 adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, according to the company.