Rohde & Schwarz President/CEO Friedrich Schwarz Retires; Michael Vohrer Assumes Post

Munich, Germany -- After 35 years as member of the Executive Board at Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, Friedrich Schwarz (65) retired from day-to-day operations on December 31, 2005. In this time he served for 10 years as President and CEO. His successor in this role is Michael Vohrer (58). Michael Vohrer has been with the company for 30 years, and he has been a member of the Executive Board since 2003. The three-member Executive Board also includes Manfred Fleischmann (53) and Christian Leicher (36).

Under Friedrich Schwarz's leadership, the electronics company became a global player. While remaining an independent family-owned company, Rohde & Schwarz is now represented in 70 countries. Friedrich Schwarz, who is the son of one of the company's founders, also turned the company into one of the world's suppliers in the fields of test and measurement equipment for wireless communications and electronics, secured radiocommunications, broadcasting, and radiomonitoring. On January 1, 2006, Friedrich Schwarz handed the company's reins over to Michael Vohrer. Prior to joining the Executive Board, Michael Vohrer served as Head of the Test and Measurement Division, during which time he expanded the company's market share in this segment.

Manfred Fleischmann and Christian Leicher both became members of the Executive Board in January 2005. Christian Leicher, who is a grandson of one of the company's founders and who represents the shareholders, joined the global family enterprise at that time, coming from Sony Ericsson. Manfred Fleischmann has been at Rohde & Schwarz since 1985. He initially served as Head of Quality Assurance and then assumed leadership of the Production and Materials Management Division. In 2001, he became responsible for all of Production, before becoming President and COO in 2005.

SOURCE: Rohde & Schwarz