Board of Directors

Paul Hälg was elected to the Board of Directors and President of Datwyler Holding AG at the 2017 Annual General Meeting. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Datwyler Cabling Solutions AG, an affiliate of the listed Datwyler Holding AG. From 2004 to the end of 2016, he was CEO of the Datwyler Group.

Prior to joining Datwyler, he was a member of the Forbo Group Executive Board as Head of the Adhesives division. From 1986 to 2001 Paul Hälg held various senior positions within Gurit-Essex (Gurit-Heberlein Group), most recently as its CEO. Prior to that, he worked at the Swiss Aluminum Group for five years. Paul Hälg is Chairman of the Board of Directors of publicly listed Sika AG and Board of Directors of Sonceboz Automotive S. A. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the ETH Foundation, Swisscontact and the Swiss Air Rescue Service (Rega). He graduated from ETH Zurich (Swiss polytechnical university) with a doctorate in chemistry (Dr. sc. techn.).

Hanspeter Fässler has been a member of Datwyler Holding AG since 2004 and Vice-President of the Board of Directors since 2017. He is Chairman of the Nomination and Compensation Committee and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Datwyler Cabling Solutions AG, an affiliate of listed Datwyler Holding AG.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Axpo Holding AG and Hatebur Umformtechnik AG. As Executive Chairman of Robotics spin-off ANYbotics AG, he contributes valuable digital expertise to the Datwyler Board of Directors. Hanspeter Fässler worked for the ABB Group in various management positions at home and abroad, including as CEO of ABB Switzerland and from 2006 to 2010 as the Head of ABB Mediterranean Region and Chairman of the Executive Board of ABB Italy. From 2010 to 2011 he was CEO of the Implenia construction services group. He received his doctorate in the specialty area Mechatronics/Robotics (Dr. sc. techn.) at ETH Zurich. He also holds an Engineer’s Degree from Stanford University, USA.

Jens Breu was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG as representative of the bearer shareholders at the 2019 Annual General Meeting. He’s a member of the Nomination and Compensation Committee.

Since the beginning of 2016 he has been CEO of the publicly listed SFS Group, where he has held various positions since 1995.

Among other things, during this time, Jens Breu was production manager in the USA for eight years. In 2012 he was promoted to Head of the Industrial Division and in 2014 to Chief Operating Officer. The 46-year-old Swiss native has a mechanical engineering degree from St. Gallen University of Applied Sciences and an MBA from Cleveland State University in the USA.

Claude R. Cornaz was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG at the 2018 Annual General Meeting. He’s a member of the Nomination and Compensation Committee.

From 2000 to 2017, Claude R. Cornaz led the Vetropack Group as a delegate of the Board of Directors and CEO. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vetropack Group at the 2018 Annual General Meeting. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the listed Bucher Industries Group. He is also on the Board of Directors of Glas Trösch Holding AG and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of H. Goessler AG and Cornaz AG Holding. Claude R. Cornaz is a certified mechanical engineer ETH/BWI.

Jürg Fedier was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG in 2015 at the Annual General Meeting. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a representative of the bearer shareholders.

Since 2009, he has been Chief Financial Officer of the publicly listed Oerlikon Group, which operates worldwide.

From 2007 to 2008 he was CFO of the Ciba Group. From 2006 to 2007 he was Head of Finance of Dow Europe and member of the Board of Directors. From 2002 to 2006, Jürg Fedier served as Vice President Finance of Dow Chemical, Performance Chemicals, USA, and from 2000 to 2002 as Global Business Finance Director of Dow Chemical, Thermosets. From 1978 to 2000, he held various management positions at Dow Chemical in the United States and Asia. Jürg Fedier is on the Board of Directors of listed Ascom Holding AG. He holds a degree in commerce from the Commercial College of Zurich, Switzerland and has completed international management programs at IMD, Switzerland and the University of Michigan, USA.

Gabi Huber was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG in 2013. She’s a member of the Audit Committee.

Gabi Huber has been practicing as a self-employed attorney and notary since 1982 and was certified as a mediator in 2006. She is co-owner of the law firm Bachmann & Huber in Altdorf, Switzerland.

From 2003 to 2015 she represented the canton of Uri in the National Council. From 2008 to 2015 she chaired the FDP Liberal faction of the Swiss Federal Councillors. Prior to her election to the National Council, Gabi Huber served as a member of cantonal government and finance director of canton of Uri from 1996 to 2004. From 2002 to 2004 she headed the government of Uri as chief magistrate (Landammann). She is Vice-President of the Board of Directors of UBS Switzerland AG. She is also a member of the board of trustees of the Swiss Air Rescue service (Rega). Gabi Huber graduated from the University of Freiburg in 1980, studied law at Columbia University in New York and earned a doctorate in 1990.

Hanno Ulmer was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG at the 2015 Annual General Meeting. He’s a member of the Audit Committee.

Since 1994, he has been the director of Doppelmayr Holding AG, the parent company of the world’s leading cable car manufacturer in Austria.

Hanno Ulmer has also been managing director of Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH since 2009. He has held various financial and management positions for the Doppelmayr Group since 1976. He is also on the Board of Directors of Ropetrans AG and Garaventa AG as well as the Supervisory Board of Bank für Tirol und Voralberg AG. Hanno Ulmer holds an accounting degree from WIFI Voralberg and completed university courses for export and international management.

Zhiqiang Zhang was elected to the Board of Directors of Datwyler Holding AG at the 2016 Annual General Meeting.

The Chinese national has been working for ABB China as Country Managing Director since October 2018. From 2012 to September 2018, he served as Senior Vice President of the Group for the Asia-Pacific region at the Swedish Sandvik Group.

From 2005 to 2012, he was Managing Director of Nokia Siemens Networks Greater China Region and from 1999 to 2005, he led Siemens VDO Automotive’s China business. As of 1987, Zhiqiang Zhang held various leadership roles at Siemens, involved in developing the Chinese market. Since 2005 he has been on the Board of Directors of the Georg Fischer Group. Zhiqiang Zhang holds a Bachelor of Sciences from Northern Jiatong University, Beijing (China) and an MBA from Queen’s University, Kingston (Canada).

For 35 years, Roland Zimmerli has been instrumental in shaping the development of the Datwyler Group into a global player with his dedicated work in widely diverse management positions. After the IPO, he prudently converted Datwyler from a family-owned and run company into a public company.

In recognition of his merits for the Datwyler Group, in 2005 the Board of Directors appointed him President emeritus. From 1999 to 2005, Roland Zimmerli had chaired the Board of Directors. Prior to joining the Board of Directors, he served as Chairman of the Executive Board of Datwyler Holding AG from 1991 to 1999. His experience was also in demand on boards of directors of renowned Swiss companies. He completed his education with the Business Management Licentiate at the University of Zurich.

Max Dätwyler chaired the Board of Directors of Dätwyler Holding AG from the time it was founded in 1958 until 1965. After handing over his chairmanship to external persons, he remained active as Vice-President and Delegate of the Management Board until the end of 1999.

Together with his late brother Peter Datwyler, Max Dätwyler shaped the development of Dätwyler Holding AG into an internationally diversified group and ensured the long-term independence of the Group with the shareholders’ agreement of Datwyler Führungs AG in 1990. Max Datwyler holds a PhD in Chemistry from ETH Zurich and a Licentiate in Economics from the University of Zurich.