Crane Co. announced that Max H. Mitchell was appointed chief executive officer of Crane, effective immediately. He was also elected to the board of directors. Mitchell, 50, joined Crane in 2004 as vice president of operational excellence, was promoted to president of fluid handling in 2005, became executive vice president and chief operating officer in May 2011, and was appointed president of Crane Co. in January 2013. Prior to Crane, Mitchell had successive management roles with Pentair, Danaher and Ford Motor Co. He succeeds Eric C. Fast, who retired from Crane Co. Fast joined Crane in 1999 as president and chief operating officer and was promoted to chief executive officer in January 2001.
Mitchell said in a prepared statement, "I would like to express my deepest thanks to Eric Fast, who for the past 14 years with Crane, including 13 years as CEO, has led this organization to substantially higher levels of consistent execution, performance and record results. It has been a privilege to have worked by Eric's side these past 10 years. I also wish to thank the board of directors for their guidance and support. Along with an outstanding team in place today, I am honored to lead Crane with its strong heritage, rich culture and record of accomplishment spanning 159 years. Along with the management team, I look forward to presenting our plans for continued shareholder value creation at our investor day on Feb. 27th."
