Gerhard Zeidler
Gerhard Zeidler (born May 12, 1936 in Breslau ) is a German engineer and manager.
Career
After graduating from high school, Gerhard Zeidler studied communications engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt . After completing his doctorate, he worked as a development engineer for communication technology at Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG (SEL) in Stuttgart , a subsidiary of the American conglomerate ITT . In 1973 he became head of development for switching systems and devices, and in 1977 he was head of development for the entire communications technology division. In 1979 he became a deputy member as head of the central technology department, and from 1980 a full member of the management board. Shortly before the parent company sold the company at the end of 1986, he also became “General Technical Director ITT Europe”, “Vice President ITT Europe” and “Vice President ITT”.
After the change of ownership to the French Compagnie Générale d'Électricité (CGE), his company was part of the newly founded telecommunications equipment manufacturer Alcatel and Zeidler became "Vice President" and member of the Executive Committee of Alcatel NV. Only two years later, in 1989, he was finally appointed chairman of the board of Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG . He took over leadership at SEL in the midst of a crisis. His predecessor had embroiled the company in a political scandal and was ultimately sentenced to three years imprisonment for embezzlement and tax evasion. However, Zeidler did not succeed in stabilizing the company in the following years. His joint venture RFT-SEL, which he founded in 1990 together with the former GDR- Telefonbaukombinat Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik , and his efforts to export telephone switching technology to Eastern Europe were a failure and brought the company into additional difficulties. In 1994 the company, which has been operating as Alcatel SEL AG since 1992, lost 500 million DM. Around 5,000 of the 21,000 employees were to be cut by the end of 1995. Gerhard Zeidler was then replaced by Peter Landsberg as the spokesman for a largely newly filled management team.
In June 1996 Gerhard Zeidler took over the chairmanship of the Dekra auditing company in Stuttgart. He realigned the company and consistently pursued its internationalization. On January 1, 2006, Zeidler withdrew from operational business and moved to the top of the Dekra supervisory board as President of the Presidential Council . He handed over his office to Thomas Pleines on May 3, 2011 .
In February 2002 he was appointed honorary consul of the Republic of the Philippines for the state of Baden-Württemberg , in May 2003 also for the state of Hesse . He teaches as an honorary professor at the University of Stuttgart and is a member of the acatech Senate .
Honors
- 1987: Honorary Senator of the Technical University of Darmstadt .
- 1987: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany , 1st Class Cross of Merit
- 2005: Merit Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg
- 2012: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Cross of Merit
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Strange calculation . In: Der Spiegel , April 22, 1991, accessed on April 30, 1991. May 2016
- ↑ Gerhard Holzwart: Alcatel: Search for success with new plans and an old pioneering spirit . In the archive of Computerwoche , May 5, 1995, accessed on May 17, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zeidler, Gerhard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wroclaw |