Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE:YUM) today announced the promotion of Peter R. Hearl, 51, as president of its Pizza Hut Inc. division, replacing Michael Rawlings, who has resigned to spend more time with his family and pursue personal interests.

Hearl is a twelve-year veteran of Yum! Brands, most recently as executive vice president and chief people officer for the company’s 32,500 restaurants and more than 750,000 employees across the system worldwide. Prior to that, Hearl served as executive vice president and chief operations officer of Yum! Restaurants International. Hearl has significant general management experience, having run KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell businesses in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

Hearl is credited as one of the architects of the Yum! Brands international expansion strategy, which is now the single biggest profit driver in the Yum! Brands portfolio. Yum! Restaurants International operates in more than 100 countries around the globe.

“Peter Hearl is a seasoned restaurant executive with a proven track record of driving consistent system sales and profit growth across our international business. His combination of operational and marketing skills, coupled with an ability to lead and develop people, makes him uniquely qualified to take Pizza Hut to the next level,” said David C. Novak, Yum! Brands chairman and chief executive officer.

“At the same time, I want to publicly thank Mike Rawlings for his many significant contributions to our company. Under Mike’s leadership, Pizza Hut has developed a strong capability to drive product and marketing innovation. Mike’s personal decision to spend more time with his family and pursue outside interests was not made easily, and I respect his choice and his commitment to ensure an orderly transition,” Novak said.