Roy Dunbar was recently appointed CEO of Network Solutions, marking one of the first times an African-American CIO of a large public company crossed the chasm and made the move to CEO. Well, technically Mr. Dunbar is a Jamaican-American by way of England, but we’re claiming him just the same.

Taking off our virtual business suits for one second, we want to collectively pop our collars and say, “You go, Roy!”

It’s no surprise that Dunbar become CEO of a major company. He was Destiny’s Child. At only 46, he is the former CIO at both MasterCard International and Eli Lily. He’s on the board of EDS (now part of HP). A pharmacist by training, he is often held out as proof-positive that you don’t need a technical background to be a successful CIO.

Now for a little controversy.

Why did Dunbar pick this company ? It’s a risky career move for someone with Dunbar’s pedigree. Just like there is no question that Dunbar’s star is rising, there is also no question that NetSol’s is falling. In 2000, at the height of the Internet boom, VeriSign acquired it for $21 billion (that’s “b” for billions). But in 2007 it was sold in a fire sale to a private equity firm for just $800 million (that’s “m” for millions). During this period there were a series of notorious scandals and strategic miscues that caused the company to slip from its perch as the world’s largest domain registrar to its current position as no.3 behind GoDaddy and eNom. Network Solutions ran its domain name monopoly so poorly that ICANN had to be created to take over the DNS system for the Internet. All in all, it’s been a stunning downfall for the company. So much for “first mover” advantage.

What was Dunbar thinking? Maybe he wanted a challenge. Maybe he wanted to add “turnaround specialist” to his resume. Maybe he was just ready to be a CEO and this was the first viable opportunity that came along. Maybe he did an assessment and concluded that the company’s main problem is just poor management, an illness for which he felt he was the perfect prescription.

What do you think?