Laura A. Francis

About Laura A. Francis

Laura A. Francis (age 58) joined Bruker’s Board in 2025 and is the Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member of SI-BONE, Inc. She previously served as SI-BONE’s COO (2019–2021) and CFO (2015–2021), and earlier was Bruker’s CFO and Treasurer (2002–2004). She holds a B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance (University of Wisconsin), an M.B.A. (Stanford), and is a CPA (inactive) in California. Immediately following the 2025 Annual Meeting, she will serve on Bruker’s Audit Committee .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independence: Bruker states all directors and nominees other than the CEO meet Nasdaq independence standards; this includes Ms. Francis as a current director in 2025 .
• Committee assignment: Following the 2025 Annual Meeting, the Audit Committee will consist of Laura A. Francis, John A. Ornell (Chair; audit committee financial expert), and Robert J. Rosenthal .
• Attendance: In 2024, every director attended at least 92% of Board and committee meetings (Ms. Francis joined in 2025) .
• Board structure: Combined Chair/CEO with a Lead Independent Director (William A. Linton), with Richard A. Packer to succeed as Lead Independent Director at the 2025 Annual Meeting .
• Executive sessions: The Board meets in executive session during each regularly scheduled Board meeting .

Fixed Compensation (Director)

Bruker’s 2024 director equity program granted annual RSUs valued at $165,035; on January 5, 2024 each non-employee director received 2,377 RSUs vesting on January 5, 2025 .

Performance Compensation (Director Equity)

Directors receive time-based RSUs; no director performance metrics (e.g., TSR) are tied to director equity awards in the proxy’s director compensation program .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Bruker’s Related Persons Transactions section lists Laukien-family related leases and a Gauss Fusion share sale; no transactions involving Ms. Francis were disclosed .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Financial expertise: Former CFO (Bruker; SI-BONE) and audit background (PwC), CPA (inactive); audit committee leadership at Shockwave .
• Industry: Extensive medtech, life science tools/diagnostics operating experience (CEO, COO, CFO roles) .
• Education: B.B.A. in Accounting & Finance (University of Wisconsin); M.B.A. (Stanford) .
• Governance: Will serve on Bruker’s Audit Committee; prior Audit Chair at a public medtech company .

Equity Ownership

• Stock ownership guidelines: Non-employee directors must hold 5x annual retainer; unvested RSUs count; individuals have 5 years from joining to comply and must hold 50% of shares from option exercises/RSU vesting (net of taxes) until compliant .
• Hedging/pledging: Directors and officers are prohibited from hedging and (subject to one limited exception) pledging Bruker shares as collateral .
• Company statement: “All directors and executive officers have met their ownership guidelines” (policy allows a 5-year window; unvested RSUs count) .

Insider Trades

Governance Assessment

• Strengths

  • Independent director with deep finance and operating expertise; assigned to Audit Committee alongside a designated “financial expert” chair, enhancing oversight of reporting, controls, and cybersecurity reviews .
  • Bruker exhibits strong governance scaffolding: executive sessions each meeting, high director attendance in 2024 (≥92%), stock ownership guidelines, clawback policy compliant with Nasdaq, and anti-hedging/pledging policies .
  • Director pay structure emphasizes time-based equity, aligning directors with long-term shareholder value without short-term performance incentives .

• Watch items

  • As of April 1, 2025, Ms. Francis shows no beneficially owned BRKR shares in the beneficial ownership table; however, policy grants new directors five years to meet ownership guidelines and counts unvested RSUs toward compliance .
  • Ms. Francis is CEO of SI-BONE (medtech). No related-party transactions with Bruker are disclosed, but investors typically monitor for future commercial relationships that could require recusal or trigger related-person review under Bruker’s policy .

• RED FLAGS

  • None disclosed specific to Ms. Francis (no related-party transactions, legal proceedings, hedging/pledging, or attendance concerns noted) .

Appendix: Bruker Director Compensation—Reference (2024)

2024 Board-level say-on-pay support (context for governance sentiment): 96% approval at 2024 Annual Meeting .