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Previously, Immelt had headed up GE's Medical Systems division (now known as GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO. He holds a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics from Dartmouth College, and a Harvard Business School MBA. He has been with GE since 1982 and is on the board of two non-profit organizations.
His tenure as Chairman and CEO started off on a low note - he took over the role on September 10, 2001 - just one day before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600 million, as well as having an obvious direct effect on the company's Aircraft Engines sector. (Shortly thereafter the offices at GE-owned news network NBC were sent anthrax-laced mail, and the corporate scandals of the likes of Tyco and Enron also followed.)
His greatest challenges as CEO currently concern maintaining company integrity, and producing the kind of consistently impressive earnings seen by investors during the Jack Welch era.