Donaldson Co. has announced that Charles J. McMurray has been promoted to senior vice president of industrial products and technology for South Africa operations. Most recently, McMurray was vice president of IT and facilities for operations in Europe, South Africa and Mexico.
McMurray will assume the leadership of the industrial products segment from James R. Giertz, who is leaving Donaldson to pursue an opportunity as chief financial officer with Residential Capital Corp., one of the nation’s largest real estate finance companies. Giertz previously had served as chief financial officer of Donaldson prior to taking on his current role.
McMurray joined Donaldson in 1980 as a senior operations accountant and has held various leadership positions, including vice president of human resources, director of IT, director of manufacturing for Donaldson Europe, and plant manager of Donaldson’s manufacturing facility in Dixon, Ill. McMurray also served two assignments at Advanced Filtration Systems Inc. (“AFSI”), from 1986 through 1990 as finance and administration manager and from 1992 through 1997 as general manager. AFSI is a 50/50 joint venture with Caterpillar.
“Charlie is a strong leader with a proven track record in delivering outstanding results,” says Bill Cook, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Minneapolis-based Donaldson. “He has held a variety of demanding leadership positions in both staff and operational roles in various Donaldson locations, both in the U.S. and overseas. The interpersonal skills, experience, management abilities and perspective he has developed in those assignments equip him well for the challenges in his new role.
“I thank Jim for his many contributions to Donaldson and especially for the strategy he has executed for our industrial group over the past six years,” Cook says. “Under Jim’s leadership, we completed two of the largest acquisitions in Donaldson’s history, DCE and Ultrafilter, significantly expanding both our product range and global presence. We have the organization, clear strategy and business platform in place for continued future growth of our industrial products due to Jim and his team’s efforts.”
