William J. Kroll
Mr. William J. Kroll was elevated to Chairman of Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. on March 1, 2004, and will continue in the role of president and CEO, which he has held since December 2001. He is responsible for directing the strategic direction of the corporation and particularly the development of the corporation’s activities in the electronics market sector, which include both compound and silicon semiconductors. Mr. Kroll also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc.
Kroll's experience spans 30 years and includes executive management in almost every area of business, including eleven years of service to Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. In addition to serving as President and CEO of Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., since December 2001, he acted as Senior Vice President and Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1986 to 1993. In that position, Mr. Kroll was responsible for $100 million in sales and 700 employees worldwide.
Prior to returning to Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., Mr. Kroll was at EMCORE from 1993 until his retirement in November 2000. He started as Vice President–Business Development and in 1996 became Executive Vice President–Business Development. He was the key catalyst in helping diversify EMCORE to become the industry’s premier full service compound semiconductor technology supplier, and was especially instrumental in EMCORE’s public offering on the NASDAQ stock exchange. He became a much sought after spokesperson for the technical community and was key in forming joint ventures, acquisitions and international distribution agreements. His more notable accomplishments were the formation of GELcore, the joint venture in solid-state lighting with General Electric Lighting; the joint venture with Uniroyal Technology Corp., in the formation of Uniroyal Optoelectronics, the maker of light emitting diode chips; and the joint venture with Union Miniere in the use of Germanium substrates for III-V devices.