In the wake of Barco CEO Eric Van Zele’s decision to retire later this year the company has named Jan De Witte, a former corporate officer of the General Electric Company, as CEO-designate. De Witte will join Barco’s core leadership team in June and effectively take over as CEO October 1.
Van Zele will continue to serve on the board of directors to ensure continuity of leadership and strategic focus for the company.
Charles Beauduin, chairman of the board said, “Under Eric’s leadership, Barco became a global market and technology leader as well as a more focused and leaner organization. His drive for strategic innovation and customer intimacy has helped to harness Barco’s entrepreneurial culture and shift the company’s strategic direction towards more value-added software-enabled and networked solutions. The board is looking forward to continue to benefit from his insights and contributions to ensure Barco’s future success.”
“Following a thorough review process, the Board determined Jan De Witte to be the right candidate to continue to strengthen Barco’s global leadership aspirations. Jan’s experience in leading global organizations combined with his background in value-added software and services make him the right executive to move Barco forward into its next phase of growth. Given his proven track record of developing new markets, driving operational efficiencies and managing product development, the Board is confident that Barco, under Jan’s leadership, will continue to deliver sustainable profitable growth.”
Van Zele said, "I am extremely proud of and grateful for what we have accomplished since I became CEO in 2009. The Barco family is a superb organization with very talented and competent colleagues dedicated to innovation and customer service. It has been a privilege to serve Barco’s people, customers and shareholders. I am confident that Jan will prove to be the right candidate to lead this company and I really look forward to working with him over the next months to ensure a seamless CEO transition.”
De Witte, 52, was until recently president and CEO of General Electric’s Global Healthcare IT activity, a close to $2 billion revenue business with 4,000+ employees worldwide that provides clinical- and system-software solutions to healthcare providers on a global basis.
Over 16 years of increasing responsibility at General Electric’s Healthcare business based in the United States and France, De Witte has demonstrated leadership in sales growth acceleration, operational efficiencies, organizational effectiveness, supply chain management, technology and product development and strategic realignment. He has been a General Electric company officer since 2007.
Prior to his tenure at General Electric, De Witte spent five years at McKinsey & Company Inc. in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Zurich where he served clients in the industrial and transportation sector on strategy and business development, business process reengineering and operational improvement. Between 1987 and 1991, he held positions in supply chain and production management at The Procter & Gamble Company in its Belgium operations.
De Witte holds a master degree in Electro Mechanical Engineering (1987) from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (1993).
Barco plans to hold a press conference in September to introduce De Witte.
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