As part of its ongoing executive seasoning initiative, GE has named Maryrose Sylvester president and CEO of GE Fanuc, the industrial control systems division that is a joint venture of GE and Fanuc Ltd. of Japan, Managing Automation has learned.
Sylvester, 39, succeeds Jeff Garwood, who was named president and CEO of GE Water & Process Technologies, a supplier of water, wastewater, and process systems solutions. Since 2002, Sylvester had been president of GE Quartz, a global business that develops, manufactures, markets, and sells fused quartz and boron nitride products for semiconductor, lighting, electronic, fiber optic, and industrial applications.
The appointment was announced internally last month without any formal public disclosure, a GE Fanuc spokesperson said. One possible explanation for this: GE Fanuc has become a proving ground of sorts for up-and-coming GE executives, industry observers have noted.
"While I've never heard them use the words 'training ground,' it seems as though at GE Fanuc, the people who leave there go on to good things," said Craig Resnick, an analyst at ARC Advisory Group, in an interview. "They bring in people [who] are talented and then after a few years decide to send them on to a larger challenge within the GE organization."
Prior to Garwood, Charlene Begley held the reins as CEO from the summer of 2001 through January 2003. During her tenure, GE Fanuc acquired Intellution, a developer of human-machine interface, historian, and plant intelligence software, from Emerson.
Begley then moved into a leadership position at GE Transportation's rail business and is currently president and CEO of GE Plastics. In the November issue of Fortune magazine, Begley was named one of the 50 most powerful women in 2005.
Before Begley, Joseph Hogan occupied the post, and is now president and CEO of GE Healthcare Technologies. During his rein he repositioned GE Fanuc from a hardware supplier to a diversified provider of services, software, and networking products, which resulted in an increase in revenue of more than 40% in two years, according to information provided on the company website.
For his part, Garwood was responsible for launching GE Fanuc's Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) program, pulling together an MES strategy that pivots around its Proficy product and making strategic acquisitions, including VMIC, an embedded computer products supplier, which moved the company squarely into the embedded market.
According to the spokesperson, Sylvester was chosen for the GE Fanuc top job based on her "exceptional organizational skills and her long track record of success in technically oriented, global GE businesses." Sylvester started her GE career in the early 1990s at GE Lighting's Sourcing organization. She progressed through various positions of increasing scope and complexity as well as different divisions.
Sylvester, currently transitioning into her new role and new office in Charlottesville, VA, was unavailable for comment.