The Executive Board of Carl Zeiss will undergo some changes starting in 2014, with the renewing of the contract of Executive Board Member and Head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group (SMT in short), Dr. Hermann Gerlinger, until 30 September 2017, and the realignment of responsibilities within the same Executive Board.
The start of calendar year 2014 will see some changes to the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG headed by President and CEO Dr. Michael Kaschke. The enlargement of the Executive Board and the reallocation of responsibilities are aimed at driving forward the consistent positioning of Zeiss as a portfolio company in line with market its segments. A further goal is to leverage the synergy potential among the business groups and through efficient shared services and corporate functions.
The Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG has decided to renew the contract of Executive Board Member and Head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group (SMT in short), Dr. Hermann Gerlinger, until 30 September 2017. Dr. Gerlinger has headed the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group since 2001 and has been a Member of the Executive Board since 1 October 2006.
“With his experience and leadership qualities, Dr. Gerlinger has shaped the development of our semiconductor business group for the past 20 years. Together with our partners, he and his team are working on the implementation of EUV technology in semiconductor production. Therefore, we at Zeiss are delighted that Hermann Gerlinger will continue as a Member of the Executive Board for the coming years. Together, we have set ambitious goals with the Carl Zeiss Agenda 2016. I look forward to the continuation of our extremely good work together,” comments President and CEO Dr. Michael Kaschke about the decision by the Supervisory Board.
In addition, by resolution of the Supervisory Board, a new member will join the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG, effective 1 January 2014. Dr. Ludwin Monz, Head of the Medical Technology business group and President and CEO of the subsidiary Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, will become the fourth Member of the Executive Board. Dr. Monz has headed the Medical Technology business group since March 2010 and will continue to be responsible for this area and its operational management on the Executive Board. The appointment of Dr. Monz to the Executive Board will be also effective until 30 September 2017. As a Member of the Executive Board, he will continue to be based at the Jena site, the headquarters of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.
“Under the leadership of Dr. Ludwin Monz the Medical Technology business group has consistently developed into one the supporting pillars of the Zeiss portfolio,” Dr. Kaschke emphasizes. “His appointment to the Executive Board underscores the significance of this development. The entire Executive Board now looks forward to even closer collaboration with Ludwin Monz in the years ahead.”
In addition to the enlargement of the Executive Board and to the allocation of responsibilities and operational management of the two top-performing business groups in the Zeiss Group to Dr. Gerlinger and Dr. Monz, there will also be a realignment of responsibilities within the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG, effective 1 January 2014. The objective here is to combine business activities, functions and markets as stringently as possible according to focal areas of responsibility, synergy potentials and strategic orientation in order to keep the Zeiss Group consistently on track to further growth.
Dr. Kaschke will oversee Microscopy and Industrial Metrology, the two business groups that operate in the research and quality management markets.
Thomas Spitzenpfeil, who will continue in his role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will assume responsibility for all units focused on consumer markets, i.e. he will now also oversee the Vision Care business group in addition to the strategic business units Camera Lenses, Planetariums and Sport Optics. – Since its full reincorporation into the Zeiss Group under the leadership of Dr. Kaschke in 2011, the Vision Care business group has achieved a turnaround and is now once again making a contribution to the Group’s earnings and cash flow.
Dr. Dieter Kurz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG, summarizes the situation as follows: “The Executive Board consists of members with a broad spectrum of experience who have a close bond with Zeiss. The renewal of Dr. Gerlinger’s contract and the new appointment of Dr. Monz sharpen the focus on the Zeiss growth markets and intensify the closeness of top management to the different customers and markets. This lays a solid foundation for the further positive development of the Zeiss Group.”
Dr. Michael Kaschke, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss AG since 2011, has been a member of the Executive Board of Zeiss since 2000. After studying physics and obtaining his PhD at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and holding various positions as a scientist at the Max Planck Institute, the Max Born Institute and the IBM Research Center in the USA, he joined Zeiss in 1992. From 1995 he headed the Surveying Instruments division, then the Medical Instruments division and then from 1999 the Medical Technology business group. On the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG Dr. Kaschke will be responsible for the RDEs China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, Latin America and South Africa.
Thomas Spitzenpfeil is CFO and Member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG. He got a degree in industrial engineering (majoring in mechanical engineering) at the Technical University of Darmstadt. After working in various positions at Robert Bosch GmbH, VIAG AG and Kodak AG, he held management positions in finance and controlling at VAW aluminium AG. After the acquisition of VAW aluminium AG by Norsk Hydro in 2002, he became CFO of the Rolled Products division. In 2004 he became CFO in the publicly listed company Zumtobel AG, Dornbirn, Austria. Thomas Spitzenpfeil was appointed to the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG in 2010. He became Chief Financial Officer on the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG and oversees the holdings in the USA and Japan and the Nordics, Benelux and Eastern Europe regions.
Dr. Hermann Gerlinger is a Member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG and Head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group. The physicist, who obtained his PhD from the University of Würzburg, joined Zeiss as a project manager for spectroscopy in 1984 and later became Head of the Optical Process Metrology area. His first position in the SMT business group was as project manager in the Lithography Optics division in 1993. After holding further management positions, he became Head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group in 1999. Dr. Hermann Gerlinger has been a Member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG since 2006. Dr. Gerlinger will concentrate on the semiconductor centres in Korea and Taiwan. Dr. Ludwin Monz is Head of the Medical Technology business group and has been appointed as a Member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG effective 1 January 2014. After obtaining his PhD in physics from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and working as a scientist at the NIST in Gaitherburg, USA, and at the Society of Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, the MBA graduate of the Henley Management College in England joined ZEISS initially as a scientist in 1994. In 2000 he assumed his first position as Head of Development in the Medical Technology area and headed the Surgical Instruments division from 2001. From 2002 to 2008, he was also President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Surgical GmbH. In 2007 Dr. Monz was appointed to the Management Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and became President and CEO in early 2010. Dr. Monz will oversee France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Turkey, established markets and countries where Medical Technology and the subjects related to it play a central role.