Jeffrey Robert "Jeff" Immelt (born February 19, 1956) is an American business executive. He is currently the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based conglomerate General Electric. He was selected as GE's CEO by their Board of Directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch upon Welch's retirement from GE. Previously, Immelt had headed up GE's Medical Systems division (now known as GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO.
Immelt was born in Cincinnati, the son of Donna Rosemary (née Wallace), a school teacher, and Joseph Francis Immelt, who managed the General Electric Aircraft Engines Division ("GEAE" is now known as GE Aviation).[1][2]
Immelt attended Finneytown High School; he played football in college and was an offensive tackle.[3] He earned an A.B. in Applied Mathematics and Economics cum laude [4] from Dartmouth College graduating with the class of 1978; he currently serves on the Dartmouth board of trustees[5][6] and was president of his fraternity, Phi Delta Alpha.
During his years at Dartmouth he worked summers on a Ford assembly line in Cincinnati; after graduating he worked for Procter and Gamble before matriculating at Harvard for his MBA.[7]
Immelt earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, graduating in 1982. He described "business school [as] one of the most intense times of your life." [8]
Immelt has been thrust into three significant external crises since taking the lead at GE as Chairman on September 7, 2001. Almost immediately he faced the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He then was pressed to defend GE's business model and the quality of its financial reports as the economy reeled from the Enron crisis. In 2008-09 he shepherded GE through the United States financial crisis.
His tenure as chairman and CEO started off on a low note – he took over the role on September 7, 2001,[11] just four days before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600...