All change at Emcore
Jeffrey Rittichier replaces Hong Hou as CEO
Emcore, a provider of compound semiconductor-based components, subsystems, and systems for the fibre optics market, announced today that it has named Jeffrey Rittichier CEO of the company who will take up his position on 3rd January 2015. In his new role, Rittichier succeeds Hong Hou, who has served as the company's president and CEO since March 2008.
Rittichier has also been appointed to the company's board of directors to fill the vacancy that will be created when Hong Hou steps down as CEO.
Rittichier has held the positions of CEO of Xponent Photonics, VP and general manager of Lucent's Access Business and vice president of marketing at Ortel Corporation. Rittichier joins Emore from NanoStatics, a developer of solutions for the production of high throughput nanofibre production systems, where he served as CEO.
"We are delighted to have Jeff join Emcore," said Gerald Fine, Emcore's co-chairman of the board. "He is a highly qualified executive with a well-established record of success. We believe he is a great fit for our organisation and we expect his experience will help Emcore take full advantage of its industry-leading position while turning Emcore into a profitable company."
"I am joining Emcore at a time when the company is poised to achieve profitable growth as we drive to create a culture of operational excellence," said Rittichier. "The company has had significant technological success, and I plan to leverage this position with our customers to increase shareholder value."
Rittichier holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Alumnus by Ohio State University's College of Engineering in 2011, and has completed the Financial Management Program at Stanford University.
As part of the recently completed sale of the company's space photovoltaics division to SolAero Technologies, an affiliate of private equity firm Veritas Capital, Emcore 's corporate headquarters will now be located in Alhambra, CA. Rittichier will be based in the company's new Alhambra headquarters.
In conjunction with the closing of the divestiture of the space photovoltaics business, and the announced sale of its telecom business unit, Emcore is reducing its corporate expenses, due to its smaller scale, to focus on being EBITDA break-even by September 2015.
Emcore's general counsel and corporate secretary, Alfredo Gomez, is scheduled to leave the company in February 2015. Alfredo Gomez joined Emcore in September 2007 and has managed the company's legal and compliance affairs. In addition, Emcore's chief administration officer, Monica Van Berkel, will be leaving in January 2015. Monica Van Berkel joined Emcore in May 2004 and has been responsible for driving the strategic direction of the human resources and information technology functions. Mark Weinswig, the company's CFO, will remain with Emcore.
