Siegfried Russwurm elected as new BDI President
The general meeting of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) has elected Siegfried Russwurm as BDI President in a secret ballot without any dissenting votes. Russwurm will succeed Dieter Kempf on January 1, 2021, whose term of office ends on December 31, 2020. This was announced by the BDI in Berlin on Monday. Kempf will become Vice President of the BDI after the end of his term of office in accordance with the statutes.
"I will devote all my energies to ensuring that German industry overcomes the severe recession as quickly as possible and strengthens its leading global position in the digital transformation," said Russwurm. "The structural change in German industry, which has been intensified by Corona, is far-reaching. Only a strong and internationally competitive industry will ensure Germany's future viability. At the same time, it provides opportunities for advancement for each individual".
The 57-year-old Russwurm is chairman of the supervisory boards of the industrial companies Thyssenkrupp and Voith. He was a member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG from 2008 to 2017. During this time, he was responsible for all industrial issues, as Chief Technology Officer for Technology as well as for Healthcare and Human Resources. His regional responsibilities within the Siemens Group included Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Siegfried Russwurm was born in June 1963. In 1988, he completed his studies in manufacturing technology at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg as a graduate engineer, where he subsequently received his doctoral degree at the Chair of Applied Mechanics. He has been lecturing there in mechatronics since 2005 and has been an honorary professor since 2009. He is married and has two adult children.
Russwurm is a member of the Executive Board of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and of the Board of the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce. He was chairman of the North Africa Middle East Initiative of German Business (NMI) under the umbrella of the BDI, chairman of the Platform Industry 4.0 of several BDI member associations and member of the Restricted Board of the BDI member association of the mechanical engineering industry, VDMA. As Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Siemens, he was a member of the presidium of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) from 2008 to 2010.
