Samuel R. Allen has elected to retire May 1 from his current position as chairman of the Deere & Company Board of Directors.
The Deere board has elected John C. May, the company's CEO, to become chairman upon Allen's retirement. The actions are another step in the company's systematic process of leadership transition.
Allen has been chairman of the board of directors since 2010 and served as the company's CEO from 2009 to 2019. May was named CEO in November 2019.
Allen joined Deere as an industrial engineer in 1975 after graduating from PurdueUniversity. In 2001, Allen joined the company's senior management team as senior vice president for human resources and industrial relations. Two years later, he was named president of financial services, power systems, and human resources.
Then in 2005, Allen became president of Deere's construction and forestry and power systems businesses. He was elected president and chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors in June 2009 and became Deere's ninth chief executive officer in August of that year.
