Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> May 10, 1999
ROSS J. CENTANNI was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Gardner Denver, Inc., on November 3, 1998. He continues to serve as
President and Chief Executive Officer of the company as well, a position
he has held since the company's spinoff from Cooper Industries, Inc., in
1993. Prior to the spin-off, he served as Vice President and General
Manager of the company's predecessor, the Gardner Denver Industrial
Machinery Division of Cooper Industries, and, prior to that, as Director
of Marketing for the division. Mr. Centanni joined Cooper Industries in
Houston, Texas, in February 1980, as Director of their Corporate
Planning and Development Group. Prior to Cooper, he spent two years with
Occidental Petroleum in Houston, Texas, and seven years with The B. F.
Goodrich Company in Akron, Ohio. He serves on the Boards of Directors
for Denman Services, Inc., of Quincy, Illinois, Esterline Technologies
of Bellevue, Washington, and the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers
Association, Houston, Texas. Mr. Centanni was selected as a finalist in
Ernst & Young's 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year Program. Also in 1998,
Forbes magazine named Gardner Denver 32nd among the 200 Best Small
Companies in America. Mr. Centanni received a BS degree in Industrial
Technology in 1967 and an MBA degree in 1971, both from Louisiana State
University. Profile
Mr. Centanni: By American standards, Gardner Denver is a rather old
company. It was founded in 1859 in Quincy, Illinois, which is
