Yum! Brands, Inc., today announced the appointment of Gregg Dedrick, 44, as President of its KFC Corp. U.S. division, replacing Cheryl Bachelder, who has resigned to pursue other interests.

Dedrick is a 10-year restaurant veteran of Yum! Brands, most recently as Executive Vice President, People and Shared Services. In this capacity, he led the human resources capability for the company’s approximately 33,000 restaurants and more than 840,000 employees across the system worldwide. He also oversaw Information Technology, Assets Protection and Financial Services. He served in that role until 2001. In the last two years, Dedrick has been a strategic advisor to Yum! while serving as Chief Administrative Officer of his church.

Dedrick is credited as one of the major architects for developing and executing Yum! Brands founding strategies, structure and culture. He also previously served as Chief People Officer for KFC.

“I am delighted Gregg Dedrick is rejoining our company as president of KFC in the U.S. Gregg is a seasoned restaurant executive with a proven track record of developing strategies that drive business results across our global business. His combination of business savvy and ability to lead and develop people makes him uniquely qualified to take KFC to the next level and restore sales growth,” said David C. Novak, Yum! Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Dedrick will report directly to Novak.