May 2, 1997
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The board of directors of Mycogen Corporation (Nasdaq: MYCO) announced today that Jerry Caulder, the company's longtime chairman of the board and chief executive officer will step away from day-to-day management as part of a planned transition in leadership. Caulder, 54, will remain on the board as chairman emeritus and continue to be active in the company's strategic direction.
In a special meeting yesterday (May 1), Mycogen's board elected current director Nickolas D. Hein, 52, vice president, global growth, of DowElanco, chairman and placed the company's president, Carl Eibl, 37, in charge of the company's management team.
Caulder said that plans for this transition began with Eibl's appointment as president and chief operating officer in September 1995.
"With Carl Eibl having assumed broad responsibility for operations over the past two years, the board and I agreed that the time was right to begin this process," Caulder said.
Hein acknowledged Caulder's contributions in guiding Mycogen from a biotech startup to its current leadership position in agricultural biotechnology.
"Without Jerry Caulder, there wouldn't be a Mycogen today," Hein said. "He not only shaped the vision and built the company, he was instrumental in creating a new industry. Both as a stockholder and as a strategic ally, DowElanco is fortunate to have that kind of foundation on which to continue building what we believe will become a major agribusiness company."
Hein said that while DowElanco is taking a more active role in Mycogen's strategic direction, Mycogen will remain an independent public company.
"DowElanco and the board believe that the interests of all of Mycogen's stockholders will be best served by retaining and fostering the entrepreneurial spark that Jerry Caulder, Carl Eibl and the existing management team have created," Hein emphasized.
Caulder has been a driving force in shaping the development of the emerging agricultural biotechnology industry. He is past chairman of the Industrial Biotechnology Association (IBA), and will continue to represent Mycogen as a director of IBA's successor, the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO), and chair its Food and Agriculture Section. Mycogen is a diversified agricultural biotechnology company that develops and markets technology-based products and services to control agricultural pests and improve food and fiber production. Mycogen Seeds develops and markets planting seeds for improved crop varieties with genetically enhanced pest-resistance and other value-added characteristics. Mycogen Crop Protection develops and markets environmentally compatible biopesticides and provides crop protection services.
Michael Sund
Mycogen Corporation
(619) 453-8030
Last updated on May 2, 1997 by [email protected]