Zimmer chairman announces retirement

Zimmer has announced that J Raymond Elliott has retired as chairman of the board of Zimmer Holdings and as a member of its board of directors at the end of last month.

Mr Elliott has been at the company for a decade and served as chairman, president and chief executive officer from August 2001 to May 2007.

In May 2007, David C Dvorak was promoted to the position of chief executive and president of the firm. Mr Elliot had announced his intention to retire from the firm upon the appointment of a new chief executive officer in November 2006.

An existing board member, John L McGoldrick, has been appointed as non-executive chairman, a move described as “an appropriate leadership structure” by the board of directors.

Mr Elliot said: “I have especially enjoyed working with my colleagues whose collective efforts saw Zimmer recognised as a market leader and become a separate publicly held company.”

He added that he had seen much change at Zimmer in his time at the firm, and wished his colleagues ongoing success in his absence.

In September 2007, Mr Elliot was elected as a director of Boston Scientific, increasing the number of board members at the firm to 15.