Born in 1949, agricultural engineer (PhD), joined CLAAS in 1980 and started in the Technical Development Department, later managerial functions in international CLAAS distribution and Product Management, since 1997 management and expansion of the activities in North America, including the construction of the combine factory in Omaha/Nebraska, since October 2005 Executive Vice President Marketing and Strategy of the CLAAS group, since 2007 spokesman of the Executive Board. On 1 October 2012 Dr. Theo Freye took over the management of Forage Harvest in addition to his current roles.