MINNEAPOLIS - Ceridian Corp. announced Oct. 9 that it has appointed Kathy Marinello president and chief executive officer, effective Oct. 20, 2006. Marinello will succeed Ronald Turner, who announced his retirement in April. Marinello is currently president of GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services. She will be elected to the Ceridian Board of Directors at the next Board meeting. Ceridian, based in Bloomington, Minn., is a human resources outsourcing company in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Ceridian had 2005 revenue of $1.5 billion and earnings of $128 million. Marinello joined GE in 1997 with experience in financial services marketing and operations, including positions at First Data Corp., First Bank System, Chemical Bank, and Citibank. She also served as president of GE Capital’s Consumer Financial Services business. She became president and CEO of fleet services in 2002, leading a division that has more than 3,000 employees in 20 countries and generated more than $4 billion in revenue last year, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper. Her accomplishments include being recognized as an Industry Leader by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal at its ninth annual Women in Business awards event this year. She is on the board of directors of the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Minnesota Business Partnership. Marinello holds a Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the State University of New York at Albany and a Master’s degree in business from Hofstra University. As of press time, a successor to Marinello at GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services has not been named.