FAIRFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 2002--Ralph S. Larsen, 63, former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson, has been elected to the board of the General Electric Company, the world's largest diversified services, technology and manufacturing company. His election brings the membership of GE's board to 17.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, "We're excited and honored to have someone of Ralph Larsen's stature and experience on the GE Board. At J&J, Ralph was all about consistent growth, unyielding integrity and innovative global thinking, a management philosophy that matches our values and our agenda at GE. He'll be an asset to the board and a terrific resource for our business leaders."
Larsen joined Johnson & Johnson, the diversified international health care company, as a manufacturing trainee with the Johnson & Johnson Domestic Operating Company in 1962, advancing through a series of increasingly responsible assignments in manufacturing and distribution. He was named vice president of marketing for the McNeil Consumer Products Company in 1980. Larsen left Johnson & Johnson for two years to serve as president of Becton Dickinson's Consumer Products Division and returned to Johnson & Johnson as president of its Chicopee subsidiary in 1983.
In 1986, Larsen was named a company group chairman and later that year was promoted to Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Consumer Sector. Larsen was elected to the Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors in 1987. He was named Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1989 and stepped down as Chairman on April 25, 2002.
A graduate of Hofstra University, Mr. Larsen also is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Xerox Corporation and AT&T Wireless and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Larsen is former Co-Chairman and member of the Policy Committee of the Business RoundTable, former Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Business Council and previously served as a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
He and his wife, Dorothy, are the parents of three children.
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