Germany: Heidelberg Materials Trading has appointed Francesco Brambilla as its CEO. He succeeds Jose Maria Magrina in the role, who will take up another role in Heidelberg Materials Group.

Brambilla joined Italcementi in 2001 and held several managerial roles, including  International Terminals Director in Switzerland. In 2016 he took the role of Area Director Market Intelligence & Sales Processes for the Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin Group area at Heidelberg Materials. He later became Area Director Business Operations for the Africa-Mediterranean-Western Asia (AMWA) Group area in 2024. Brambilla holds a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Pavia and executive master of business administration (MBA) qualifications from the Mannheim Business School and the ESSEC Business School.

US: CRH has appointed Danilo Juvane as its Head of Investor Relations. He will lead CRH’s investor relations function, overseeing shareholder engagement and communicating the company’s strategy and value proposition to investors. He succeeds Tom Holmes in the role, who is moving into a senior leadership role within CRH’s strategy division.

Juvane holds 25 years of experience in capital markets, having most recently worked as Vice President of Corporate Development, Investor Relations & ESG for The Williams Companies. He has also held jobs as an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Entergy Services. He is a graduate in economics from Grinnell College and holds a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

US: Tony Kasten has retired as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the Monarch Cement. He has now become a freelance business consultant.

Kasten started working for the Kansas-based cement producer as a senior accountant in 2002, according to the Chanute Tribune newspaper. He later became the company’s Senior Accountant and Corporate Controller and then its CFO in 2019. He reportedly played a key role in several acquisitions, including Joplin Concrete, followed by Neosho Concrete, Concrete Industries at DCC, Concrete Enterprises South, Kay Concrete, Hays Ready Mix and American Concrete.

Monarch Cement operates an integrated cement plant at Humboldt in Kansas.

Germany: Hans-Jürgen Zimmermann, the founder of INFORM, has passed away at the age of 92 years.

Zimmermann held degrees in engineering and a PhD in mathematical economics and business administration from the Technical University of Berlin. He subsequently became a professor at RWTH Aachen University and was its Chair of Operations Research from 1967 to the late 1990s. In 1969 he founded INFORM (Institute for Operations Research and Management). His goal was to demonstrate the entrepreneurial added value of intelligent algorithms as a core business activity. INFORM subsequently evolved into a prominent supplier of intelligent decision support products.

On the academic side of his career, he also became a professor at the University of Illinois and held teaching positions at various universities in India, Europe and the US. He received his first Honorary Doctorate from the Free University of Brussels and his second Honorary Doctorate from the Abo Akademi University, Finland. In 1985 he received the EURO Gold Medal, the highest distinction in Operations Research in Europe. Many other awards and accolades followed. He published over 240 papers in the areas of Operations Research, Decision Theory and Fuzzy Set Theory, 30 books in English and German in similar areas and was the editor of various journals including the International Journal for Fuzzy Sets and Systems. Notable academic society and association roles included becoming president of the German Operations Research Society and more.

INFORM says, “Prof. Zimmermann’s pioneering academic achievements were always inseparable from his humanistic values. Alongside his analytical brilliance, he was distinguished by a deeply humane and unifying spirit. As a mentor and trusted companion, he inspired, supported, and shaped the lives of countless people.” It continues, “For him, INFORM was always also a community of people working together with joy, responsibility, and trust. A family-friendly culture, mutual respect, and an awareness of the meaning of one’s work were not mere ideals to him, but convictions he lived by.”

He remained closely connected to INFORM as the main shareholder, advisor and mentor until the end.