Merck Announces Changes to Performance Materials Leadership Team

14-Mar-2018 - Germany

Merck announced changes in the leadership team of its performance materials business sector. Dorothea Wenzel will become the new Head of Controlling and Strategy. Hans-Joachim Neumann will take over the leadership of Integrated Supply Chain. In addition, the Group Function Environment, Health, Safety, Security, Quality will be headed by Andreas Kruse.

Albert Langenstein, to date Head of Controlling for Performance Materials, will leave the company after 25 years to pursue a new entrepreneurial challenge. Effective April 1, 2018, he will be succeeded by Dorothea Wenzel, who is currently the Head of the Fertility franchise within the Healthcare business sector of Merck and was previously Head of Controlling of the former Merck Serono division. In addition to Controlling, Wenzel will also assume responsibility for Strategy Development and the Bright Future transformation program. “I am very pleased that Dorothea Wenzel will be joining our leadership team. With her experience, she will drive the strategic alignment of Performance Materials forward and further execute the Bright Future program. Her strategic expertise and business acumen are assets to actively shape the future of our business,” emphasized Kai Beckmann, CEO Performance Materials and Member of the Executive Board of Merck. “We thank Albert Langenstein for his many years of successful service to Performance Materials and our Finance unit and wish both him and Dorothea Wenzel the best of luck and every success in their new positions,” said Marcus Kuhnert, CFO of Merck and member of the Executive Board.

A further change relates to Integrated Supply Chain of Performance Materials. With approximately 3,500 employees, it is responsible for the production and global distribution of more than 3,000 Merck products as well as for the Quality functions and Process Development. Hans-Joachim Neumann will take over the leadership of Integrated Supply Chain on October 1. To ensure a smooth transition, he will move to Performance Materials on April 1, 2018 from Merck’s Life Science business. “Hans-Joachim Neumann has many years of experience in production at Merck and is precisely the right person to develop our Integrated Supply Chain unit further,” said Kai Beckmann.

Martin Hostalek, Head of the Group Function Environment, Health, Safety, Security, Quality will retire at the end of 2018. He will be succeeded by Andreas Kruse, previously Head of Integrated Supply Chain for Performance Materials, who will move to Environment, Health, Safety, Security, Quality on October 1, 2018 and prepare himself for his new role. “I would like to thank Martin Hostalek for his long-standing commitment and dedication to Merck and sincerely hope that he will soon find time for the things that he might not have had enough time for during his professional life. I am very happy that with Andreas Kruse, we have found an experienced successor in a function that is so important to Merck,” said Walter Galinat, the Executive Board member with responsibility for Environment, Health, Safety, Security, Quality.

Dorothea Wenzel has been working for Merck since 2004 and is currently responsible for the Fertility franchise within Healthcare. Previously, she served as Head of Controlling of the former Merck Serono division. Before joining Merck, Dorothea Wenzel held various leadership positions on the Rürup Commission of the German Federal Ministry of Health, at the insurance firm Winterthur Versicherung, and at McKinsey. She studied business and computer sciences and earned a doctorate in Health Economics at the Technical University of Darmstadt and at Harvard University.

Hans-Joachim Neumann is currently Head of the Technology Cluster Inorganics, Organics & Solvents within the Life Science business sector. He is a graduate chemist who received a doctorate from the Technical University of Darmstadt and joined Merck in 1995.

Andreas Kruse has been the Head of Integrated Supply Chain within Performance Materials for ten years. Before that, he served as Managing Director of Merck in Korea and also held various senior management positions throughout the company. He studied Chemistry and earned a doctorate at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1153972/merck-announces-changes-to-performance-materials-leadership-team.html