Lincoln Electric's Americas Welding President Retiring May 31

CLEVELAND, OH — Lincoln Electric Holdings announced Wednesday that George Blankenship, executive vice president, president Americas Welding segment is retiring effective May 31. Christopher Mapes, chairman, president and chief executive officer, will oversee the Americas Welding organization until an internal successor to Blankenship is named.

Blankenship joined Lincoln Electric in 1985 as an engineering trainee and held various engineering and product development management positions until 2009, when he was promoted to senior vice president and president North America. In 2016, he was named executive vice president and president of Americas Welding. During his 35-year tenure, his technical, strategic and operational contributions have advanced the company’s competitive position and reinforced its leadership position.  

“We thank George for his tremendous leadership and contributions, which position Lincoln Electric for future success,” Mapes said. “We congratulate him on an exceptional career that oversaw the development of over 60 patents, the digitization and automation of our solutions, the advent of IoT, additive manufacturing, enhanced commercial and operational excellence, and the development of a strong segment leadership team. We wish him our best in retirement.”

“It’s been an honor and privilege to have had the opportunity to lead in this great company and be part of such an amazing industry,” Blankenship said. “I have infinite confidence in our organization, our products, our people, and our succession planning process which will provide for a smooth leadership transition. We are successful because of our team’s dedication to our customers, our focus on winning, and operating by a strong ethical foundation. I am confident in the team’s execution of our short-term action plans and our ability to achieve our 2025 Higher Standard Strategy which will build upon our strong leadership position.”