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His business experience includes service on the boards of directors of numerous public companies. He has also chaired the National Association of Manufacturers, The Manufacturing Institute and the Ohio Business Roundtable. He has served on the Advisory Council of the Stanford University School of Business and was a member of the US-Japan Business Council for 20 years. In 2003, he received a presidential appointment to serve as chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
Name: Timken, William
Current Position: Former Ambassador
A native of Ohio, William Robert Timken, Jr. was sworn in as US ambassador to Germany on August 15, 2005. He presented his credentials to German President Horst Köhler on September 2, 2005. Timken concluded his servies on December 5, 2008.
Timken received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1960 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1962.
Prior to becoming ambassador to Germany, Timken was the head of the Timken Company, a worldwide Fortune 500 company specializing in the manufacture of bearings and other steel-based components, with operations in 28 countries, including Germany. The company was founded by Timken’s great-grandfather in 1898.
Prior to becoming ambassador to Germany, Timken was the head of the Timken Company, a worldwide Fortune 500 company specializing in the manufacture of bearings and other steel-based components, with operations in 28 countries, including Germany. The company was founded by Timken’s great-grandfather in 1898.
Timken told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “They didn't send me there [to Germany] to be a bureaucrat. My job was more like running a big business.” Timken considered himself the CEO of all US government persoonel in Germany, including the military and 30 federal agencies, totaling 75,000 people.
His business experience includes service on the boards of directors of numerous public companies. He has also chaired the National Association of Manufacturers, The Manufacturing Institute and the Ohio Business Roundtable. He has served on the Advisory Council of the Stanford University School of Business and was a member of the US-Japan Business Council for 20 years. In 2003, he received a presidential appointment to serve as chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
Timken has donated tens of thousands of dollars to national and Ohio GOP organizations and numerous Republican candidates, including President Bush and US Senator George Voinovich. In 2004 he served as Ohio finance co-chairman for the Bush-Cheny campaign and was classed a “Bush Ranger” for having raised more than $200,000 for the campaign.
U.S. Ambassador William Timken, wife, Sue, conclude diplomatic mission in Berlin (by James Ewinger, Clevelnad Plain Dealer)
Berlin Rally Is Off-Limits for Embassy Workers (by Karen DeYoung, Washington Post)
Dr. Range-Rover (or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the American Ambassador) (see entry for April 22, 2007) (by Arden Pennell, New Yorker in Berlin)