- Long-term Supervisory Board Chairman passes away
Goettingen, Germany, July 10, 2017 – The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sartorius AG, Professor Arnold Picot, Ph.D., died unexpectedly at age 72 on July 9, 2017. Arnold Picot, who as executor also administered Horst Sartorius’ estate, had served at the helm of the Supervisory Board of Sartorius since 1998. “With his entrepreneurial vision, Arnold Picot was a major driving force in propelling Sartorius to evolve into a completely capital-market-oriented company,” said CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Joachim Kreuzburg. “He set the tone of cooperation at the top level of the company with his future-oriented thinking and personal style that promoted constructive balance throughout all areas. His tenure saw the transformation of Sartorius from a technology-driven company focused on weighing and filtration into one of the most innovative global partners and suppliers for the biopharmaceutical industry. For all the changes entailed by this development, Arnold Picot was instrumental in ensuring that the German principle of codetermination involving both management and staff was positively and constructively applied. He contributed exceptionally to Sartorius. We are shocked and sad that we have to take leave of him so suddenly and much too early.”
Arnold Picot was born in 1944 in Gmunden, Austria, and studied business administration. After earning his credentials to qualify as a university professor, he taught at the Universities of Hanover, Germany, and of Stanford, California, USA. In 1984, he was appointed to the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, where he headed the Institute of Information, Organization and Management at the Faculty of Economics for many years. He served on many scientific committees and as a highly recognized consultant for providing expert opinions, as well as a publisher of trade journals. Moreover, he was a member and chairman of several supervisory and advisory boards.
The Supervisory Board of Sartorius will be temporarily led by its current Vice Chairman, Manfred Zaffke, until a successor has been elected.