Rigaku Announce New President & COO

Rigaku Corporation has announced that, as of April 1, 2015, Mr. Yoichi Yokomizo succeeded Mr. Wes Hardenburg to become President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Rigaku Americas Holding Company, Inc. (RAH).

Mr. Hikaru Shimura, Rigaku Corporation Chairman and CEO, said that this change was made "in order to better encourage growth throughout the Rigaku Group and to ensure that we are able to effectively pursue our mission of contributing to the enhancement of humanity through scientific and technological development … his presence will facilitate better communication and a stronger connection between the U.S.-based Rigaku businesses and Rigaku Corporation in Japan.”

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Yokomizo served as Executive VP and General Manager of Rigaku’s Global Sales and Marketing Group. Previous to joining Rigaku in 2012, Mr. Yokomizo amassed a wealth of experience in managing organizations with strong leadership as an “Innovation Leader.”

Former positions included being EVP/CIO for Lawson, Inc., President and CEO of i2 Technologies (Japan) and General Manager for IT strategy at Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan). Mr. Yokomizo has B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Keio University and a M.B.A. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

As of April 1, 2015, Mr. Wes Hardenburg resigned his position with Rigaku to pursue other interests. Mr. Hardenburg commented that “it was with great pleasure and an honor to work with the team members of Rigaku since December 1991 … I am looking forward to hearing about Rigaku achieving its goals and wishing a prosperous and exciting future for all.”