Kazuo Maeda
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from Kyushu Imperial University's Faculty of Engineering in 1943 and joined Mitsui Shipbuilding that year. He became manager of the Tamano shipbuilding works in June 1966 and a Director in May 1968, and served as manager of the shipbuilding works at the Chiba Shipyard. He became Managing Director in May 1974 and Senior Managing Director in June 1977. Whereas the three previous presidents—Goichi Kato, Shigematsu Tanaka and Isamu Yamashita—had all come over from Mitsui & Co., Maeda was the first president to have joined Mitsui Shipbuilding directly.
Selection
In June 1979 he became President when Isamu Yamashita moved to Chairman. He had joined the board in May 1968, six years before Hiromasa Kikuchi, Hideo Matsushima, Yoshio Ishitani and Koji Arase, who sat alongside him as senior managing and managing directors in June 1979 and had joined the board in May 1974. His career had taken him through the shop floors of both main works, from the Tamano shipbuilding works to the Chiba Shipyard. With merchant ship orders dwindling after the oil crises, an engineer who knew the works appears to have been chosen.
Initiatives
He became President in June 1979. In October 1981 the Oita Works began operations. At this time Mitsui Shipbuilding combined shipbuilding with marine diesel engines, dating from the B&W alliance of August 1926, and a chemical machinery division started in August 1938. He is also listed as Representative Director and President in the 1981 edition of a Japanese corporate directory. It was a period in which, amid dwindling merchant ship orders, the company carried on with its non-shipbuilding divisions intact.
Career
Career
Mitsui E&S
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1943 | Joined |
| 1968 | Director |
| May 1974 | Managing Director |
| Jul 1974 | General Manager, President's Office and General Manager, Development Headquarters |
| Jun 1977 | Senior Managing Director |
| Jun 1979 | President |
| Jun 1986 | Chairman |
| Jun 1986 | Stepped down as President |
| 1993 | Senior Advisor |
| Jul 1998 | Special Advisor |