CLEVELAND, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Hannifin
Corporation (NYSE:PH), the global leader in motion and control
technologies, today announced that its Board of Directors has
elected company veterans Thomas L.
Williams as Chief Executive Officer and Lee C. Banks as President and Chief Operating
Officer, each effective February 1,
2015. Donald E. Washkewicz,
who served as Chief Executive Officer since 2001, Chairman of the
Board since 2004 and President since 2006, will continue as
Chairman of the Board to allow for a smooth transition of his
responsibilities. Mr. Williams and Mr. Banks have also been
elected as members of Parker's Board of Directors, effective
immediately.
"Over the past decade, both Tom and Lee have been exposed to the
entire global organization, including broad executive leadership
preparation and strategy development," said Washkewicz. "They
each bring significant experience with all of Parker's operating
groups and have led the growth and development of Parker's position
in emerging markets. They are supported by a strong
management team, all with the common goal of driving outstanding
results across Parker's businesses."
As an Operating Officer of the company since 2006, Mr. Williams
has had leadership responsibility for the Aerospace, Filtration,
Engineered Materials, Instrumentation, Climate and Industrial
Controls, Hydraulics, Fluid Connectors and Automation product
groups and the Asia Pacific and
Latin America regional groups.
Mr. Williams also currently oversees the company's strategic
pricing initiatives. He joined Parker in 2003 as Vice President,
Operations for the Hydraulics Group and in 2005 became President of
the Instrumentation Group. Previously, he held a number of
key management positions in four different business groups during a
22 year career at General Electric, including GE Capital, Aviation,
Lighting and Transportation. He serves on the Board of
Directors for Chart Industries, a leading independent global
manufacturer of highly engineered equipment. Mr. Williams
earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from
Bucknell University and a Master of
Business Administration from Xavier
University.
"I am honored and excited to accept this new role as Chief
Executive Officer of Parker and will focus on continuing to build
on its strong foundation, momentum, customer focus and innovative
mindset," said Williams. "Our goal will be to continue
driving significant operational improvements, profitable growth and
product and service innovations for our customers. Parker has been
at the forefront of technological advances for nearly a century and
it is our vision to stay on the front line of innovation for the
next 100 years."
"The Parker Board of Directors has been focused on leadership
succession for many years," said Robert J.
Kohlhepp, Lead Director. "This robust process has
given us the benefit of evaluating the performance, qualifications
and cultural fit of Tom and Lee for some time now, comparing and
benchmarking them against a number of alternatives. We are
confident that both Tom and Lee are the right leaders to continue
the legacy of strong performance improvement at Parker. We
welcome them to their new roles and to the Board."
As an Operating Officer of the company since 2006, Mr. Banks has
had leadership responsibility for the Filtration, Engineered
Materials, Instrumentation, Climate and Industrial Controls,
Hydraulics, Fluid Connectors and Automation product groups and the
Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin
America regional groups. Previously, Mr. Banks was the
President of Parker's Hydraulics and Instrumentation product
groups and was Vice President of Operations in the Climate and
Industrial Controls Group. He began his career with Parker in 1991
and has also held increasingly responsible positions within sales
and operations management including several division general
manager positions. He serves on the Board of Directors of
Nordson Corporation, a leader in precision dispensing equipment for
industrial coatings. Mr. Banks has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics
from DePauw University and a Master of
Business Administration from The Keller
Graduate School of Management in Chicago.
"I look forward to leading Parker's global operations and to
representing shareholders on the Board," said Banks. "Our ability
to continue to collaborate as a team will help us drive exceptional
operating performance. Parker is in a very strong position
and I am excited to contribute to seeing us achieve new
heights."
Parker Hannifin will host a
conference call and live webcast to discuss its fiscal 2015 second
quarter results on January 27th at
11:00 a.m. ET. Mr. Williams
will be introduced on that call. To access the call, click on
the "Live Webcast" link at www.phstock.com. From this link, users
also may complete a pre-call system test and register for e-mail
notification of future events and information available from
Parker.
About Parker
Hannifin
With annual sales exceeding $13 billion in fiscal year 2014, Parker Hannifin is the world's leading
diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and
systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide
variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company
employs approximately 57,500 people in 50 countries around the
world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to
shareholders for 58 consecutive fiscal years, among the top five
longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index.
For more information, visit the company's website at
www.parker.com, or its investor information website at
www.phstock.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements
contained in this and other written and oral reports are made based
on known events and circumstances at the time of release, and as
such, are subject in the future to unforeseen uncertainties and
risks. All statements regarding future performance, earnings
projections, events or developments are forward-looking statements.
It is possible that the future performance and earnings projections
of the company, including its individual segments, may differ
materially from current expectations, depending on economic
conditions within its mobile, industrial and aerospace markets, and
the company's ability to maintain and achieve anticipated benefits
associated with announced realignment activities, strategic
initiatives to improve operating margins, actions taken to combat
the effects of the current economic environment, and growth,
innovation and global diversification initiatives. A change in the
economic conditions in individual markets may have a particularly
volatile effect on segment performance. Among other factors which
may affect future performance are: changes in business
relationships with and purchases by or from major customers,
suppliers or distributors, including delays or cancellations in
shipments, disputes regarding contract terms or significant changes
in financial condition, changes in contract cost and revenue
estimates for new development programs and changes in product mix;
ability to identify acceptable strategic acquisition targets;
uncertainties surrounding timing, successful completion or
integration of acquisitions and similar transactions; the ability
to successfully divest businesses planned for divestiture and
realize the anticipated benefits of such divestitures; the
determination to undertake business realignment activities and the
expected costs thereof and, if undertaken, the ability to complete
such activities and realize the anticipated cost savings from such
activities; ability to implement successfully the Company's capital
allocation initiatives, including timing, price and execution of
share repurchases; threats associated with and efforts to combat
terrorism; uncertainties surrounding the ultimate resolution of
outstanding legal proceedings, including the outcome of any
appeals; competitive market conditions and resulting effects on
sales and pricing; increases in raw material costs that cannot be
recovered in product pricing; the company's ability to manage costs
related to insurance and employee retirement and health care
benefits; and global economic factors, including manufacturing
activity, air travel trends, currency exchange rates, difficulties
entering new markets and general economic conditions such as
inflation, deflation, interest rates and credit availability. The
company makes these statements as of the date of this disclosure,
and undertakes no obligation to update them unless otherwise
required by law.
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SOURCE Parker Hannifin Corporation