Christopher J. O'Connell has been appointed president, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors at Waters Corp., effective in September 2015.
 
Mr. O'Connell joins the company from Medtronic, where he spent 21 years serving in variety of leadership positions, most recently as president of the Restorative Therapies Group responsible for $7 billion in revenue and more than 16,000 employees worldwide. He provided overall strategic direction and operational management of the Group’s five divisions.
 
"From the outset, Waters' Board of Directors focused on identifying a new CEO whose experience best supports the continuation of Waters' culture, business strategies and performance drivers," explained Thomas P. Salice, Lead director for Waters Corp. "Chris O'Connell's wide range of experiences across all aspects of a technology focused global organization prepares him well for the Waters CEO position. We are confident Chris is the right person to continue to drive Waters’ leadership performance and chart its future direction."
 
Retiring chief executive officer, Douglas A. Berthiaume will continue in his role as chairman of Waters' board of directors.
 
"With this leadership transition, it is important to recognize Doug Berthiaume for all that he accomplished as Waters' president, CEO and Chairman of the Board," said Mr. Salice. "As the leading architect of the company's focused business strategy, Doug oversaw Waters’ drive to expand applications of our core technologies and commitment to customer relationships. Impressively, the corporation has experienced a 35-fold increase in share value since Doug led the effort taking the company public in November 1995. We offer our heartfelt gratitude to Doug and look forward to his continued role as Chairman."