Professor Dr Friedrich Berschauer (53), currently a member of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare AG and Head of its Animal Health Division, has been named chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG effective April 1, 2004. He succeeds Dr Jochen Wulff (64), who will retire after 35 years' valuable service to Bayer. The new Head of Animal Health will be Dr Gunnar Riemann (45), presently in charge of the Biological Products Division. Riemann will also join the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare AG.

Friedrich Berschauer studied agricultural science at Stuttgart-Hohenheim University, subsequently working as a scientific assistant at the university's Institute for Animal Nutrition. After obtaining his doctorate in agricultural science in 1977, he joined Bayer AG in 1980 as head of the animal nutrition department at the Pharmaceuticals Research Center in Wuppertal. He held various other positions with Bayer before becoming head of development in the company's Crop Protection Business Group in 1993.

In 1998 he transferred to the United States, serving as president of the Animal Health Division of Bayer Corporation. In July 2000 he was appointed general manager of the Animal Health Business Group at Bayer AG. After the reorganization, Berschauer initially was appointed a member of the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee with responsibility for the Animal Health Division and the Asia-Pacific region. Effective October 1, 2003 he became a member of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare AG and the company's labour director.

Since 1987 Berschauer has been working as an adjunct professor at the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim.