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Gerhard Full, President and CEO from 1997 to 2003; since 2003 member of the Supervisory Board.
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| After receiving his diploma as an industrial engineer at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Gerhard Full entered the organization department of Linde AG in Wiesbaden in 1962 and in 1969 became deputy Production Manager of the MATRA plant in Kahl am Main, his first responsibility for an operative unit. |
After returning to the central organization department in 1970, Gerhard Full answered the call of the State Engineering School in Rüsselsheim and lectured there as an instructor. In 1973, the Technical University of Wiesbaden named him Professor for Life in the mechanical engineering department.
In 1975 Gerhard Full was drawn back into business practice. He took on the management of the technology department in Linde’s central administration. In 1977 the Executive Board appointed him to be a member of management of the expanding Industrial Trucks and Hydraulics plant group (FH). One year later, the Supervisory Board appointed him a deputy member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. In 1978/79, Gerhard Full also managed the American subsidiary Baker Material Handling Corp. (known today as Linde Lift Truck Corp.). During this period, Baker opened a new production and administration building in Cleveland.
After his appointment to regular member of the Executive Board in 1981, Gerhard Full was first responsible for Refrigeration and the Hydraulics segment; in 1985 he took over the management of the FH plant group from Dr. Hans Meinhardt.
Full managed Facilities Engineering from 1995 until his appointment as President and CEO of the Executive Board in 1997. He also demonstrated his versatility in the position of human resources executive, which he held from 1991 to 1993 in addition to his other duties.
After Gerhard Full took over the office of President and CEO as the successor to Dr. Hans Meinhardt as of the shareholders’ meeting in May 1997, he continued to expand Linde AG’s international presence in all divisions. The most important milestone of his term in office was the takeover of the Swedish gas producer "Aktiebolag Gasaccumulator" (AGA) in late 1999, which made Linde the fourthlargest supplier of industrial and medical gases in the world.
On January 1, 2003, Gerhard Full handed over the presidency of the Linde AG Executive Board to Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle and in May 2003 became a member of the Supervisory Board.