Nordson Corp. Chairman, CEO and President Edward P. Campbell, 59, plans to retire in early 2010, the company's board of directors said April 29.
Campbell will remain in his current role until a successor is named and in place, a process that will include internal and external candidates and is expected to take until the end of calendar year 2009. Campbell also intends to retire from the Nordson board when the CEO transition is complete.
Campbell joined Nordson, a producer of precision dispensing equipment for use in broad range of consumer and industrial products, in 1988 as a corporate vice president. He was named chief operating officer in 1994. In November of 1997, Campbell was elected president and chief executive officer. He was also named chairman of the board in March 2004.
During Campbell's tenure with the company, Westlake, Ohio-based Nordson grew from $245 million in annual sales with earnings of $.78 per share in 1988 to $1.1 billion in sales with earnings of $3.43 per share in 2008. The company also continued to raise dividends paid to shareholders every year, a record that now stands at 45 consecutive years.
