Harman Professional Promotes John Fitzgerald

	John Fitzgerald

Harman Professional yesterday announced the promotion of John Fitzgerald to the position of vice president, general manager amplifiers and signal processing strategic business unit. The move follows the retirement of Rob Urry after more than 28 years at the company and reflects Harman's commitment to advance product innovation and increase the rate of new product throughput. In making the appointment, Blake Augsburger, president Harman Professional noted Fitzgerald's pedigree and Urry's contribution.

"As we look back on Rob Urry's remarkable contribution to our organization and our industry, we also look forward to a new era of success under John Fitzgerald. John is a proven leader with a demonstrated capacity to get results," Augsburger said today. "For our customers and channel partners John's leadership means we'll have a high volume of exciting new products to show; for our organization it means we'll have an excellent manager with great ideas; and for other stakeholders this appointment is a signal of Harman's intent to evolve and grow while respecting our roots and culture."

Fitzgerald has a diverse and accomplished career within Harman. He joined Harman Automotive as an engineer in program management in 1997 and has since been appointed to increasingly senior positions with customer-facing and operational responsibilities. Prior to accepting his new role, Fitzgerald was vice president of program management, general manager Harman amplifier business unit. Fitzgerald holds an engineering degree from the University of Maine and an MBA from the University of Illinois.

Commenting on his appointment, John Fitzgerald noted, "I am very pleased to take on the responsibility of leading such a talented team and helping this SBU drive the market with the most innovative, appealing, and successful amplifier and signal processing technologies available. Our brands, our people, and technologies are the best in the business and I have deep confidence that we can bring this unique value to a wide audience of audio professionals and artists across the globe."

Urry's retirement marks the conclusion of a long and accomplished career at Harman. He joined the company as an entry-level hardware engineer and rose to vice president of engineering, chief technology officer (professional) and president of Harman music group. "Rob Urry's legacy of innovation is manifested in some of the most iconic and best-loved audio technologies our industry has known." Augsburger added. "Today, as a result, many thousands of DigiTech, Lexicon, and dbx products are in the field and have helped shape the sound of a generation. We're very grateful to Rob and we wish him well in the future."

In announcing his retirement, Rob Urry stated, "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Harman. Now that the time has come to enjoy my retirement, I am very satisfied that the culture of innovation is strong, that our organization is deep, and that a new leader of John Fitzgerald's calibre is prepared and ready to lead our business unit. I am grateful to the many wonderful people I have worked with and I look forward to continuing these friendships in the months and years ahead."