The former Chief Executive from AutoDesk, Inc., Carol Bartz, has been named the new CEO at Yahoo Inc.  Jerry Yang she is not, and she should be a breath of fresh air for the contentious crew at Yahoo.

Her resume is impressive: she is well respected in the technology industry, including a 14-year term at AutoDesk, 12 years at Sun Microsystems and extensive product and sales management experience at 3M Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation. During her time at AutoDesk its revenues grew to more than $1.5 billion from less than $300 million, and its share price increased nearly ten-fold.

Bartz is known for being direct, tough but fair, professional and an equal or better to the boys in the industry. She has served as a Director on the corporate boards of Intel, Cisco Systems, NetApp and AutoDesk, and now will serve on the Board of Yahoo as well as continue to serve as a Board member at AutoDesk.

Her reputation for successfully turning around troubled companies will certainly be tested as she begins her tenure at troubled Yahoo. What Bartz lacks in advertising experience she makes up for in business savvy. Her first big decision will be whether Yahoo is going to be an advertising company, an Internet company or a media company, and to help the company find its focus.

Yahoo Chairman of the Board, Roy Bostock, issued the following statement after Bartz’s appointment was announced: “[Ms. Bartz] is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the Board was looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo. She is admired in the Valley as well as on Wall Street for her deep management expertise, strong customer orientation, excellent people skills, and firm understanding of the challenges facing our industry.” After stumbling through his printed comments, Bostock then referred to Bartz as “Carl,” but quickly corrected himself.

Yahoo’s stock reversed earlier losses and rose 2.9 percent, to close at $12.41 after Yahoo’s announcement of Bartz as new CEO.