Santa Barbara enterprise software maker QAD announced that CEO Karl Lopker would take an indefinite medical leave of absence on Aug. 15.

His wife and QAD President Pam Lopker will take over in the role in his absence, the company said. Anton Chilton, currently chief of global field operations, and CFO Daniel Lender will also step into the newly created office of the interim chief operating officer to support her in the transition.

Peter van Cuylenburg will serve as chairman of the board of directors, which approved the leave at Karl Lopker’s request. Lopker will remain a member of the board in the meantime.

“I have complete confidence that our executive management team will continue to do their normal outstanding job executing our plans while I am on leave,” van Cuylenburg said in a news release.

Lopker was a founder of Goleta footwear firm Deckers Outdoor Corp. where he asked his wife Pam’s fledgling venture to write software for Deckers. That venture became QAD.

QAD shares fell 3.5 percent alongside general market declines to $39.56 on Aug. 15, but remain up 28 percent for the year. The company’s Precision Software division announced the release of the next generation of its shipping software a week prior.

• Contact Marissa Nall at mnall@pacbiztimes.com