Tim Conver Elected As New Chairman of AeroVironment; Dr. Paul MacCready Retires as Chairman and Director
August 20 2007MONROVIA, Calif., Aug. 20, 2007 -- The Board of Directors of AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ: AVAV), a leader in unmanned aircraft systems and efficient electric energy systems, today announced that it has unanimously elected Tim Conver as its new chairman of the board. After joining AV’s Board of Directors in the late 1980’s Conver became its president in 1991 and assumed the additional role of chief executive officer shortly thereafter. Conver now assumes the role previously held by Dr. Paul MacCready, who has retired as chairman and director as a result of a recently diagnosed, serious health issue. Mr. Conver’s appointment is effective immediately.
Dr. MacCready, the Company’s founder, has served as chairman of its board of directors for the past 16 years. Dr. MacCready transferred responsibility for the Company’s management and operations in the 1990’s, which allowed him to focus on addressing critical global issues such as transportation, energy efficiency, resources and population. In recent years Dr. MacCready helped to mentor a new generation of engineers at AV, providing his insights into challenging technical issues and alternative approaches to problem solving.
“As our founder, Paul’s approaches to problem solving and innovation became key components of our culture and continue to have an immeasurable impact in shaping the AV of today and tomorrow. As chairman, he has provided valuable guidance and inspiration to our employees and his fellow Board members, as well as to many other people around the globe,” said Tim Conver. “Paul’s full schedule outside of the company during the past 15 years has kept him busy applying his wise consel, guidance and systems solutions to global problems at the nexus of energy, the environment and population. His presence at the Company will be sorely missed by the entire AV family, but his contributions will continue to benefit us and society for some time. We send Paul and his family our heartfelt gratitude along with our best wishes.”
Dr. Paul MacCready
Born in 1925, Dr. MacCready founded AeroVironment in 1971 and this month is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the record-setting flight of the Gossamer Condor, which made the world’s first sustained, controlled flight powered solely by a human on August 23, 1977. The feat led to Dr.MacCready being nicknamed the “father of human-powered flight.” Dr. MacCready was named Engineer of the Century by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and selected Graduate of the Decade by the California Institute of Technology. He was named one of the 100 greatest minds of the 20th century by Time Magazine. He told Time in December 2000, “I try to avoid administrative tasks as much as I can and instead think about the big picture and what the world
needs.”
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About AeroVironment, Inc. (AV)
AV is a technology company that designs, develops, produces and supports an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and efficient electric energy systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s battery-powered, hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. AV’s electric transportation solutions include electric vehicle (EV) home charging, public charging and fast charging systems for consumers, automakers, utilities and government agencies, power cycling and test systems for EV developers and industrial electric vehicle charging systems for commercial fleets.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain additional contracts; changes in the regulatory environment; the activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to develop new products or integrate new technology with current products; and general economic and business conditions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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