President James Truchard to serve as Chairman of the Board after stepping down
Alex Davern is scheduled to assume the position of NI CEO and President on January 1, 2017.

National Instruments (ni.com/korea, hereinafter NI) announced that Alex Davern (49) was elected CEO and President by the Board of Directors and is scheduled to take office on January 1, 2017.

Alex Daven will succeed James Truchard (73), who has served as NI's CEO since the company's founding in 1976. James Truchard is set to assume the position of Chairman of the Board after his retirement. The Board will appoint Alex Daven as a member of the Board in late January 2017. This change in CEO is part of the board succession plan.

"Our goal was to make National Instruments a stable, long-term company. Over the past decade, while navigating a weak industrial economy, we focused on long-term strategic investments necessary for NI's future growth. Based on major platform investments in core areas such as PXI modular instruments, RF measurement, CompactRIO, and our entire software platform, we believe we can secure opportunities to expand our market in the long term," said Dr. James Truchard, CEO and Co-founder. "NI's corporate positioning, which showcased advancements and preparedness for the future at NIWeek, is also being positively evaluated." "I believe now is the optimal time to step down from the CEO position," he said.

Truchard expressed his expectations regarding Alex Daven, stating, “Alex, with whom I have worked for over 20 years, is an exceptional leader and business strategist who has proven his capabilities by achieving unprecedented success. I have no doubt that together with Alex, the NI management team will continue to write a history of successful innovation and growth.”

Alex Daven said of James Truchard, “He has successfully led NI for decades with talented individuals with the goal of building a stable, long-standing company. I am honored to lead NI at a time when we are entering the next phase of increasing growth and profitability,” and expressed his ambition to “establish NI as a leader in the test, measurement, and control sectors, equipped with a differentiated platform and a strong business model within the ecosystem.”

Jeff Kodosky, co-founder, senior researcher, and director of NI, remarked, "Many entrepreneurs start businesses with groundbreaking ideas, but very few achieve the same level of accomplishment as James Truchard." He added, "I would like to draw attention to the fact that beyond economic success, James Truchard and NI have had a tremendous impact on engineering and science over the past 40 years. Thanks to James Truchard and NI, various industries have been able to utilize innovative technologies, and I believe he will continue to excel as Chairman of the Board."

James Truchard founded NI in 1976 with co-founder Jeff Kodowski as a side business in a garage and kitchen. Since then, NI has grown into a global company in test, measurement, and control solutions, employing over 7,000 people worldwide, by self-financing its business, successfully completing an IPO in 1995, and achieving sales of over $1 billion (1.1225 trillion KRW).

Alex Daven served as CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in 1997 and has also held the role of COO (Chief Operating Officer) since 2010. Alex Daven and NI executives Jeff Kodosky (NI co-founder and senior researcher), Eric Starkloff (Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing), Scott Rust (Senior Vice President of R&D), and Duncan Hudson (CPO (Chief Platform Officer)) lead NI based on a 100-year plan.