FEI announces today that Don R Kania has been named by the board of directors as president, chief executive officer and a board member of the company
Kania, 51, has most recently been president and chief operating officer of Veeco Instruments, where he has worked since 1998.
Prior to that he held technical and general management positions of increasing responsibility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
He holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in physics and engineering from the University of Michigan.
He is expected to start at FEI in mid-August 2006.
William Lattin, lead director of FEI's board of directors commented, "Don's background in nanotechnology and capital equipment markets make him a perfect fit as FEI's new CEO.
"I, along with the rest of the board of directors, have confidence that he will make significant, long-term positive contributions to FEI.
"I would also like to extend my thanks to Ray Link, our CFO and interim CEO, who along with the other members of the management team has done an outstanding job in running the company during this transition period".
"Don brings a wealth of business and technological experience to FEI, and I am very excited that he has decided to join our company," commented Ray Link, chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer of FEI.
"His leadership and background, particularly in Asian markets, will help FEI continue to grow and prosper.
"He is an outstanding person to add to our already strong and seasoned management team, and we are all looking forward to working with him".
"FEI has great technology strengths, large and expanding market opportunities and a dedicated group of employees worldwide," said Kania.
"I'm looking forward to building on that foundation and working with the existing team to continue our operating improvements, take advantage of our great potential, generate solid returns for our shareholders and create growth opportunities for our employees."
