The move consolidates Jim’s lock on the drugmaker, where Jim Robinson had been non-executive chairman since June 2005, a tumultuous time that was pockmarked by the presence of a federal monitor and a deferred prosecution agreement due to an accounting scandal. Then there was an embarassing effort over a botched settlement with a generic rival, which led to a criminal investigation and the departure of the previous ceo, Petey Dolan.

Enter Jim Cornelius as interim ceo, a position that was made permanent last spring. Since then, Cornelius has attempted to steady the drugmaker, which has signed a couple of co-development deals with rivals as it struggles, along with the rest of pharma, with a thinning pipeline. To cope, Jim ordered a $1.5 billion cost-cutting exercise that will trim 4,300 jobs.

Apparently, the recent write-off of $275 million over losses in sub-prime mortgages wasn’t an impediment to his promotion. In disclosing the gaffe, Cornelius talked about being a “big believer in accountability,” and promptly tossed his treasurer overboard. “Had I been smart enough to ask about that in detail in the fourth quarter, I’m not sure we would have avoided the loss completely, but maybe we would have minimized it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Board also named Lewis Campbell, chairman, president and ceo of Textron as lead independent director. Robinson, who was once chairman of American Express and a co-founder and general partner at RRE Ventures, has been a Bristol-Myers board member since 1976, and will remain a director until May 6. Here’s the statement.