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On January 29, Domingo Unreña-Raso, former head of the Defence & Space military aircraft division of the Airbus Group, tendered his resignation after a series of problems regarding the A400. He will be take up another position of responsibility within the Airbus group. In a note, the aeronautic and aerospace group proclaimed his fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso as his successor.58-year-old Alonso is expected to take on his new role on March 1, but in the interim Berhard Gerwert will stand in as caretaker.

On January 16, the Supervisory Board of CompuGROUP Medical resolved to propose René Obermann to the general shareholders‘ meeting on May 20 as successor to Prof. Rolf Hinz who, the software company announced, tendered his resignation effective February 6. The board of management has applied to the Koblenz tribunal to proceed with the appointment of the former Telecom CEO as provided by law.

After barely three months, David Frink is standing down from his position as chairman of the management board of apparel group Gerry Weber International, and will resume his previous position of CFO. In a communiqué dated 22 January, the company announced that the position of CEO will probably be assigned to Ralf Weber by agreement between the three shareholders‘ representatives of equal power on the Supervisory Board.

On January 14, Theodor Maurer and Bert-Jan Knoef unexpectedly resigned their seats on the management board of fork-lift producer KION GROUP without giving notice. As of January 15, therefore, management board chairman Gordon Riske took on the chair of the subsidiary companies Linde Material Handling and STILL; the reorganization of the MDax-listed company is aimed at shortening the decision-making processes, fostering synergies and thus speeding growth.

In a communiqué dated January 28, QIAGEN announced its intention to propose Professor James E. Bradner to the shareholders’ meeting in June for election to the Supervisory Board. Bradner is Associate Director of the Center for the Science of Therapeutics at the Broad Institute and haematology specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is also Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Janina Kugel is joining the management board of Siemens with the responsibility of work-related issues. Siegfried Rosswurm, who had been appointed head of human resources (in addition to that of technology) in place of Klaus Heinrich from October 1, 2014 will pass the baton to Kugel effective February 1. 51 year-old Rosswurm will become head of the Medical Technology division which up to now had been led by Hermann Requardt who has resigned from the management board.

On January 6, 2015 Günther Cramer passed away after a long and difficult illness. The announcement of the 62-year-old’s death was made by SMA Solar Technology in Niestetal, near Kassel on January 8. The TecDax-listed company described its founder, management board chairman and subsequently Chairman of the Supervisory Board as a “courageous visionary and forerunner of global rethinking in the field of energy”. Günther Kramer was the person with whom the public associated the solar technology producer that today employs 5,000 staff.

Zeal: new CFO sweeps clean

SDax-listed Zeal Network SE (formerly Tipp24) has a new CFO. Jonas Mattson, engineer and business economist, will take on responsibility for the financial dealings of the online gaming producer, effective beginning of February. His previous experience at CFO level was with the 03b telecommunications network and SES satellites. Mattson succeeds Andreas Keil who resigned for personal reasons in September 2014 after only 16 months in the position. In the meantime, CEO Hans Cornehl has stood in as interim CFO.

M.A.X Automation: vacancy in the management board

M.A.X. Automation AG is seeking a new management board chairperson. The present CEO of the Prime Standard listed machine tool manufacturer, Bernd Priske, is leaving the company after 12 years service. Priske and the Supervisory Board expressed their reciprocal appreciation for the spirit of active cooperation built up over the years between them.

4SC: Two freshmen on the Supervisory Board

4SC AG, the bio-tech concern has invited Prof. Helga Rübsamen-Schaeff and Joerg von Petrikowsky to join its Supervisory Board. This completes the 6-person Supervisory Board of the company specialized in oncology and auto-immune research, filling the positions left vacant by the resignation of Thomas Werner and Klaus Kühn – at least until the next shareholders’ meeting. Rübsamen-Schaeff holds a degree in chemistry, and in 2006 became CEO of the Ai Curis GmbH bio-pharmaceutical company. In 1994 she became leader of the Bayer AG virus research department, a position she maintained until 2011. She has lectured on biochemistry and virology at Frankfurt University since 1988. In 2014, she joined the Partners and Supervisory Boards of pharmaceutical colossus Merck and is also president of its research council. Von Petrikowsky has 30 years experience in auditing in pharmaceuticals, medicine and biotechnology with such companies as Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.