Paul Schmidt Joins EMD Crop BioScience as President

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ — Paul Schmidt has joined EMD Crop BioScience as President, succeeding Tom Winkofske, who will retire at the end of the year. To aid in the transition, Winkofske will temporarily serve in a consultant role.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071206/AQTH016)


Schmidt brings 25 years of experience in the crop bioscience industry and most recently served as Vice President of New Business Ventures for Bayer CropScience, developing new business opportunities in the areas of nutrition, health and biomaterials.


“Our search for a new President was a long and rigorous one, and it brought us to the best possible outcome,” said Winkofske. “Our criteria demanded the skills necessary to lead our business and to reach the high goals we have set. Paul matches our target profile without compromise. He has the far-reaching expertise in global strategy for plant biotechnology products, a successful record in business alliance management and multifaceted background in sales, marketing and product management. “


Born and raised on a grain and hog farm in Saskatchewan, Schmidt earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Prior to Bayer CropScience, Schmidt had held positions with Aventis CropScience, Hoechst Schering AgrEvo and Hoechst.


“As a company founded almost 120 years ago, EMD Crop BioScience has a long and remarkable history of providing high value plant enhancers for yield enhancement,” says Schmidt. “My job is to see that continue. With the growing global demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel, the need for innovative technologies and solutions to enhance plant production has never been greater.


“We intend to expand our global product portfolio and continuously improve our people and services as we strive to meet the needs of customers and increase the value of global agriculture.”


Schmidt and his family are presently planning their relocation from North Carolina to the Milwaukee area.


Winkofske joined EMD Crop BioScience in 1975 as National Sales Manager, was promoted to Vice President of Sales in 1980 and finally to President in 1986. His major achievements include growing the EMD Crop BioScience and legacy businesses by more than 500 percent, establishing Argentinean operations in 1990, and restructuring the legume inoculants business after the divestiture of the LiphaTech business in 2002. Most recently, he led the successful acquisition of Agribiotics and the efforts to establish external partnerships with other key plant technology companies to help expand the product portfolio of EMD Crop BioScience.


About EMD Crop BioScience


Originally founded as the Nitragin Company in 1898 after a Milwaukee entrepreneur purchased rights to a commercial process for the production of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, Nitragin remained privately owned until 1982. In 1991 Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany purchased the business. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, EMD Crop BioScience is committed to advancing crop-enhancing technologies and making these products available to growers worldwide.


About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt


Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with sales of EUR 6.3 billion in 2006, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by 30,962 employees in 61 countries. In 1917 the U.S. subsidiary Merck & Co. was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.


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Source: EMD Crop BioScience


CONTACT: Kristen Zbichorski of EMD Crop BioScience, +1-262-957-2006; or
Dan Danford of AdFarm, +1-816-218-2724, for EMD Crop BioScience