Elizabeth Hirsch, Praxair’s long-serving IRO, has been promoted to the position of controller. She takes over from Mark Murphy, who is leaving to become CFO at MEMC Electronic Materials. The change is effective immediately.
Hirsch has been Praxair’s head of IR for the last eight years. She was appointed as the company’s director of IR in 2002 and then promoted to vice president of IR in October 2010.
Prior to joining IR, she was a director of corporate finance and then assistant treasurer at the company. Before joining Praxair, she spent 15 years working in corporate banking, mainly at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company.
‘With her strong financial background and extensive knowledge of Praxair’s global businesses, Liz will continue to make a major contribution to Praxair’s financial strength and growth,’ comments James Sawyer, Praxair’s CFO, in a statement.
Hirsch’s replacement is Kelcey Hoyt, who has been working as controller of the eastern division of Praxair’s North American Industrial Gases (NAIG) business unit.
Hoyt joined Praxair in 2002 and worked in a number of corporate accounting positions before taking up a finance role in 2008 at Praxair’s on-site and helium organizations. She then became controller of NAIG’s eastern division in 2009.
Before her career at Praxair, Hoyt was an audit manager at accountancy firm KPMG and a communications manager at Xerox.
She has two main tasks to focus on in her new role. First, she will need to communicate the outcome of a tax settlement with the Spanish government, for which Praxair has announced it will take a $290 mn one-off charge. Second, she will need to prepare for Praxair’s fourth quarter results, due for release on January 26, 2011.
