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Phil Eyler

Phil Eyler

President & Chief Executive Officer | Director, Board of Directors


Phil Eyler is President and Chief Executive Officer of Gentherm, the global market leader and developer of innovative thermal management and pneumatic comfort technologies. Eyler joined Gentherm in December 2017 and serves on the Company’s Board of Directors.

As President and CEO, Eyler leads more than 14,000 employees in 13 countries, where he is responsible for the strategic direction and operational leadership of the company. He is leading the company's quest to strengthen the core business of growth initiatives centered on thermal management and pneumatic comfort technologies, Battery Thermal Management solutions and Medical Patient Temperature Management systems. The company is also transforming the future of personalized passenger thermal comfort with the smart, individual climate zone solution named ClimateSense®, tailored to the autonomous, electrified and ridesharing ecosystem of the future.

Eyler joined Gentherm from Harman, where he served as President of the Connected Car division. Under his leadership, he oversaw the $3 billion division of more than 8,000 employees that was dedicated to developing integrated connected car systems encompassing infotainment, telematics, connected safety and cyber security solutions, among others.

Throughout his 20-year career at Harman, Eyler served in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility. He was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Harman’s Global Automotive Audio business. In this position, he delivered double-digit growth organically and through acquisitions and spearheading award-winning technology innovations.  Prior to leading the Global Automotive Audio business, Eyler was responsible for Harman’s North American Automotive business and led Harman’s North American and Asian manufacturing group. He began his career at Siemens.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Sleep Number Corporation. 

Eyler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

 



BETSY METER

Retired Managing Partner, Michigan at KPMG LLP 

BYRON T. SHAW II

President, Byron Shaw LLC

JOHN STACEY

Special Advisor, Harman International, Inc.

 

DR. KEN WASHINGTON

Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Medtronic plc

BETSY METER

Retired Managing Partner, Michigan at KPMG LLP 

Betsy Meter has served as a director for the Company since January 2021. She was the Michigan Managing Partner at KPMG LLP, a global firm that provides audit, tax and advisory services, from February 2018 until her retirement in December 2020. Ms. Meter served as the Partner-in-Charge of Audit for Michigan from 2013 to 2017, in addition to her role as an Audit Partner for 24 years. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for VSP Global, Automotive Hall of Fame, and is the Chairwoman of Oakland Family Services, Inc. She is a former board member of the Detroit Economic Club, Detroit Regional Chamber, Downtown Detroit Partnership, and the former chairperson of the Michigan Association of CPA’s. Ms. Meter holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Walsh College. 

BYRON T. SHAW II

President, Byron Shaw LLC

Byron T. Shaw II has served as a director of the Company since 2013. Dr. Shaw has been the President of Byron Shaw LLC, a consulting firm providing diligence, strategy and execution advisory services focusing on automotive technology and related services, since 2012. From 2006 to 2012, Dr. Shaw worked at General Motors in various positions, most recently as Managing Director of the Silicon Valley Office for General Motors and General Motors Ventures LLC. From 1998 to 2003, he worked at BMW in various positions, including Principal Technology Engineer and Manager of Advanced Technology. Dr. Shaw currently serves on the Board of Directors or Advisory Board of several privately-held companies, including Smalltech LLC, Project Renovo, Qualia Networks, Auto Tech Ventures, Up Shift Cars and Rotary Wing Engine. Dr. Shaw received Bachelor of Science degrees and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering/controls from University of California, Berkeley.

JOHN STACEY

Special Advisor, Harman International, Inc.

 

John Stacey has served as a director of the Company since May 2018. Mr. Stacey currently serves as a Special Advisor of Harman International Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 

From 2008 until his retirement in 2022, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Harman. Previously, Mr. Stacey served in various senior human resources positions with AnheuserBusch InBev SA/NV from 1990 to 2008, including, most recently, as Vice President, People for InBev North America, InBev Central and Eastern Europe from 2005 through January 2008. Mr. Stacey currently serves as a director on the Board of Powell Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:POWL). He also serves as a member of the compensation committee and the nominating and governance committee of Powell Industries. 

Mr. Stacey received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland.  

DR. KEN WASHINGTON

Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Medtronic plc

Dr. Ken Washington has served as a director of the Company since 2023. He is currently Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Medtronic plc, a global healthcare technology company that provides device-based medical therapies and services. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Software Engineering, Consumer Robotics for Amazon Lab126, a premier innovation hub and subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. Prior to joining Amazon Lab126, Dr. Washington held varying positions at Ford Motor Company, including serving as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Washington worked at Lockhead Martin Corporation as Vice President of the Advanced Technology Center and its first Chief Privacy Officer. He has also served for approximately 21 years in various roles at Sandia National Laboratories, including as Chief Information Officer. Dr. Washington previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of McKesson Corporation from July 2019 to October 2021.

Dr. Washington earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020 and was inducted into the Black Engineer Hall of Fame in 2023.

SOPHIE DESORMIÈRE

Chief Growth Officer, Aliaxis Group SA/NV

DAVID HEINZMANN

President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Littelfuse, Inc.

RON HUNDZINSKI

Retired Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, TI Fluid Systems

Chair, Gentherm Board of Directors

CHARLES KUMMETH

President and Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Techne Corporation

SOPHIE DESORMIÈRE

Chief Growth Officer, Aliaxis Group SA/NV

Sophie Desormiére has served as a director of the Company since 2012. Ms. Desormière is the Chief Growth Officer of Aliaxis Group SA/NV, a global leader in advanced piping solutions for water and energy. 

As Chief Growth Officer, Ms. Desormière is responsible for product strategy, business strategy and models for accelerating growth and achieving sustainable performance, and marketing, all in support of Aliaxis’ Growth with Purpose strategy. Previously in 2022, she was Chief Executive Officer of NAVYA, an autonomous mobility systems company. Prior to joining NAVYA, Ms. Desormière served as the Chief Executive Officer of AALPS Capital, a private equity management company based in France.

Immediately prior to joining AALPS Capital in 2018, Ms. Desormiére was General Manager Marketing and Sales and Senior Executive Vice-President at Solvay, a Belgium-based developer of specialty chemicals starting in 2010. Previously, Ms. Desormiére spent 17 years in increasingly responsible positions at Valeo, an independent industrial group focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for the automotive industry, including Research & Development Product Line Director, Branch Marketing Innovation Director, Group Product Marketing Director and Comfort Enhancement Domain Director. Ms. Desormière is a member of the Board of Somfy S.A., which was publicly traded prior to becoming a private company in 2022.   

Ms. Desormiére is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris, the Institut de Formation du Caoutchouc and the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School. 

DAVID HEINZMANN

President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Littelfuse, Inc.

David Heinzmann has served as director for the Company since August 2020. He is currently President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Littelfuse, Inc., a global manufacturer of leading technologies in circuit protection, power control and sensing. He has served as President and CEO since 2017. Mr. Heinzmann began his career with Littelfuse in 1985 as a manufacturing engineer and has held positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President, Global Operations from 2007 to 2013 and Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2016. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Pulse Electronics Corporation from 2014 until its acquisition by Oaktree Capital Management in 2015. Heinzmann holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and is a graduate of Stanford Directors’ College at Stanford University Law School and AeA/Stanford Executive Institute at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

RON HUNDZINSKI

Retired Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, TI Fluid Systems

Chair, Gentherm Board of Directors

Ronald Hundzinski has served as a director of the Company since 2016. Mr. Hundzinski served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of TI Fluid Systems until his retirement in April 2023. Prior to that he was Executive Vice President, Finance, of Tenneco since January 2019. From 2012 to 2018, Mr. Hundzinski was the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of BorgWarner Inc. During his career with BorgWarner, he held a range of finance leadership positions including Treasurer, Principal Accounting Officer, and Vice President of Finance for the BorgWarner Turbo Systems business.

Mr. Hundzinski holds a B.B.A. in finance from Western Michigan University and an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado.

CHARLES KUMMETH

President and Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Techne Corporation

Charles Kummeth has served as a director for the Company since August 2018. He is currently President and CEO of Bio-Techne Corporation, which is a leading developer and manufacturer of high quality purified proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, and instruments for biomedical researchers and clinical research laboratories. Prior to joining Bio-Techne, Mr. Kummeth served as President of Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography at Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and was President of the Laboratory Consumables Division from 2009 to September 2011. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher, he served in various roles during his 24-year career at 3M Corporation, most recently as the Vice President of the company's Medical Division from 2006 to 2008. Mr. Kummeth received a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Business Administration from the Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

JAYMI WILSON

Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America Automotive

Global Sales and Marketing

Product Line Manager, Global Electronics

HUI (HELEN) XU

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Automotive

Global Thermal Comfort

Managing Director of Asia

JAYMI WILSON

Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America Automotive

Global Sales and Marketing

Product Line Manager, Global Electronics

Jaymi Wilson is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America Automotive, Global Sales and Marketing, and Product Line Manager Global Electronics, reporting to Phil Eyler.

Jaymi is responsible for growth and profitability of the automotive business in North America, managing customer relationships, product development, manufacturing, and delivery of quality products. She leads the strategic development of the global Electronics product portfolio and global sales operations, marketing, and branding initiatives across the company. Since joining Gentherm in 2013, Jaymi has assumed roles of increasing responsibility, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Corporate Communications. Prior to that she was Vice President and General Manager of Gentherm’s Medical Business.

Her career in the automotive industry has spanned manufacturing, engineering, business planning, sales management, strategy, business, and corporate development at Visteon, SMR Automotive Global, and Gentherm.

Jaymi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University.

HUI (HELEN) XU

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Automotive

Global Thermal Comfort

Managing Director of Asia

Hui (Helen) Xu is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Automotive and Global Thermal Comfort, reporting to Phil Eyler. Helen is based at the Company’s Shanghai, China location and serves as Managing Director of Asia.

Helen is responsible for growth and profitability of the automotive business in Asia, managing customer relationships, product development, manufacturing, and delivery of quality products. Additionally, she leads the strategic development of the global thermal comfort product portfolio including all seating, interior, and ClimateSense® solutions. She works with our OEM customers worldwide to develop and launch new products and drive profitability.

Previously, Helen worked for Infineon Technologies, a semiconductor solutions company, where she was the Vice President of Infineon China and Head of Automotive Division for Infineon’s China mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan regions. Prior to Infineon, she served as Vice President and China Managing Director at International Automotive Components (IAC) Group. Helen joined IAC Group from Lear Corporation, where she held international roles of increasing responsibility in both China and the United States.

Helen holds a Master of Business Administration from Walsh College, a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oakland University and Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the GMI Engineering and Management Institute (now Kettering University).

...

WAYNE KAUFFMAN

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

BARB RUNYON

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

THOMAS STOCKER

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe Automotive

Global Pneumatic Comfort and Battery Performance Solutions

Managing Director of Europe

VISHNU SUNDARAM

Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

WAYNE KAUFFMAN

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Wayne Kauffman is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary reporting to Phil Eyler.

Wayne oversees all legal matters for Gentherm including corporate governance, intellectual property, litigation, securities regulation, corporate compliance and data privacy.

Prior to this role, Wayne led Gentherm’s intellectual property policy and development. He began his legal career with the national IP law firm of Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C. where he was responsible for assisting clients in securing patent rights. Wayne began his career with General Motors, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility over his 17-year tenure in vehicle manufacturing, product development and vehicle safety and integration in both the U.S. and Canada.

Wayne holds a J.D. in Law from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University.

BARB RUNYON

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Barb Runyon is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer reporting to Phil Eyler.

Barb leads the overall human resources strategy, including total rewards, talent acquisition and talent management, employee engagement and human resources. She is also responsible for leading global Corporate Communications.

Prior to joining Gentherm, Barb worked as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at La-Z-Boy Incorporated, a global leader in residential furniture, from 2015 through 2018. Prior to that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at PepsiCo/The Pepsi Bottling Group for over 14 years.

Barb graduated with a Master of Business Administration with emphasis in Organizational Development from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources from Michigan State University.

Barb is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Loyola High School in Detroit and the Vice President of the Advisory Board for the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University. Barb also was recently appointed to the Board of the Michigan Colleges Alliance.

THOMAS STOCKER

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe Automotive

Global Pneumatic Comfort and Battery Performance Solutions

Managing Director of Europe

Thomas Stocker is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe Automotive, and Global Pneumatic Comfort, and Battery Performance Systems (BPS) reporting to Phil Eyler. Thomas is based at the Company’s Odelzhausen, Germany location and serves as Managing Director of Europe.

Thomas is responsible for growth and profitability of the automotive business in Europe, managing customer relationships, product development, manufacturing, and delivery of quality products. Additionally, he leads the strategic development of the global BPS, pneumatic comfort and fluid valve systems portfolio with our OEM customers worldwide. Gentherm’s BPS offer a wide range of technology that supports our customers’ electromobility needs today and in the future. These products are utilized in the thermal management of modern xEV vehicles, which includes full hybrid electric vehicles (FHEV), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV), but also Cell Connecting Technologies for the sensing of critical data and the configuration of batteries.

Previously, Thomas was the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering at HENSOLDT GmbH, a global defense and security electronics company. Prior to HENSOLDT, he held several senior-level business unit leadership positions at Harman International over the course of nearly six years. Prior to this, Thomas held various roles of increasing responsibility at BMW where he led the execution of some of the most advanced technologies for the automaker.

Thomas holds a master’s degree in electronics from Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences.

VISHNU SUNDARAM

Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

Vishnu Sundaram is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, reporting to Phil Eyler.

Vishnu is responsible for leading Gentherm’s technology strategy, advanced product engineering, longer term R&D, and the Company’s partnership ecosystem to continue Gentherm’s heritage of introducing innovations in Climate Comfort, Pneumatic Lumbar and Massage, Battery Performance Solutions (BPS), Electronics and Software systems, and Patient Thermal Solutions.

Vishnu comes to Gentherm from Stellantis, where he was the Senior Vice President, Head of Cockpit Connected Services. Prior to Stellantis, he was the Senior Vice President of Telematics for Harman/Samsung. He began his career at Intel and later moved to Trilogy, where he was Technical Fellow in Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning projects. He has extensive entrepreneurial and startup experience where he was the co-founder of Lifeblob and founded Interchain.

Vishnu holds a master's degree in software engineering from PSG College of Technology and has completed the Executive General Management Program with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the lead and co-inventor of 6 patents and was named a Rising Star in 2018 by the Automotive News.

MATTEO ANVERSA

Executive Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

RAFAEL BARKAS

Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Supply Chain

YIJING BRENTANO

Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

STEVE FLETCHER

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Medical

MATTEO ANVERSA

Executive Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Matteo Anversa is Gentherm’s Executive Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer reporting to Phil Eyler.

Matteo leads all of Gentherm’s financial and IT operations on a global basis.

Matteo joins Gentherm from Myers Industries, Inc., an international manufacturer of polymer-based material handling products and a wholesale distributor of tire repair and retread products (NYSE: MYE), where he was Executive Vice President, CFO since December 2016. At Myers Industries, he was responsible for driving cash flow, improving working capital, managing business restructuring and M&A activities, strengthening corporate controls and developing the Company’s IT strategy. Prior to Myers Industries, he was the Vice President, Group FP&A for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. since April 2015. He joined FCA in 2013 as the CFO for Ferrari SpA, where he helped prepare the company for its IPO.  Matteo began his career with General Electric Corporation where he held various leadership roles during his 16-year tenure, including CFO, GE Gas Engines, Global FP&A Manager, GE Transportation, and CFO, GE Consumer & Industrial, Asia Pacific.

Matteo holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Parma, Italy. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy.

RAFAEL BARKAS

Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Supply Chain

Rafael Barkas is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain reporting to Phil Eyler.

Rafael leads key global areas of manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, supply chain, purchasing and quality across the company.  Prior to this position, Rafael was Gentherm’s Vice President of Battery Thermal Management. 

Rafael joined Gentherm from Magneti Marelli where he served as the Head of NAFTA Electronics. In that role he was responsible for leading sales, engineering, project management, purchasing, quality and manufacturing for Magneti Marelli’s Electronics Business Line in NAFTA. Prior to that he held roles of increasing responsibility at Harman International where he served as Vice President of Operations, and gained valuable international experience where he served as the Vice President of the Automotive Audio division in China and had full P&L responsibility. Before joining Harman, he held various roles at Johnson Controls.

Rafael holds a Master of Business Administration from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

YIJING BRENTANO

Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

Yijing Brentano is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Investor Relations reporting to Phil Eyler. In addition to her role as the Investor Relations Officer at Gentherm, Yijing is responsible for developing and advancing the Company’s corporate strategy, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions.

Most recently, Yijing served as Gentherm’s Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Global Financial Planning and Analysis. Prior to joining Gentherm in 2018, she served as Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations at Harman International, a Samsung Company. Before joining Harman, she spent 17 years at Sprint Corporation (now part of T-Mobile) in multiple leadership assignments, including Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Mobile Health, General Manager of International Wholesale, Vice President of Investor Relations and business unit CFO roles. Yijing started her career as a Treasury Consultant for Ernst & Young.

Yijing holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kansas and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

STEVE FLETCHER

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Medical

Steve Fletcher is Gentherm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Medical business, reporting to Phil Eyler. 

Steve leads Gentherm’s global Medical business where he is responsible for profitable growth, developing and launching new products, and continuing to drive synergies with the Company’s Automotive product lines. 

Previously, Steve was the Executive Vice President, Halo Diagnostics, at C2 Sense, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-off. At C2 Sense he led the Company’s transition to Medical Diagnostics through the development and launch of a COVID-19 point-of-care home diagnostics solution. Prior to that, he held senior leadership roles as President and Chief Commercial Officer at Mologic Inc., President and Chief Operating Officer at GC America, and Vice President and General Manager, Water Analysis Instruments at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Steve began his career with 3M Corporation where he held positions of increasing responsibility.  

Steve earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban and Economic Geography from the University of Victoria and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He also holds a Six Sigma green belt from 3M Corporation. 

Our Management Team

Board of Directors