At the recent Agritechnica Agricultural Machinery Show held at Hanover in Germany. Dave Hill was introduced to Catherina Class, Deputy Chairwoman of Claas and the daughter of Chairman Helmut Class.

Cathrina is one of the few high-level female executives in the ag machinery business, joining the likes of Susanne (Kinzenbaw) Veatch, vice president of Kinze Manufacturing and daughter of company president Jon Kinzenbaw. When Cathrina succeeds her father Helmut Claas as chair, she will be only the third chairperson of the Claas company, founded in 1913 by her grandfather August Claas.

Unlike her father, who is an engineer, Cathrina graduated with a degree in finance from a university in Switzerland. “I am not exactly of the opinion that you have to be an engineer to run the company,” she says. “What is much more important than the actual engineering is the use of it. And getting ideas of how to use technology for your purposes is something I understand very well.”

During her studies Cathrina served on the company's shareholder committee for seven years. After graduating, she worked for a technology company in Switzerland. “I quit my job when my father was 78 [to become his deputy] so that I could work with him before he retires,” she says. “And we have been working together quite successfully for the past few years”