The board of directors of Hardinge Inc. announced that it has appointed Ryan Levenson of Privet Fund Management LLC, to serve as a director. Privet Fund Management currently owns 9.7 percent of the company's common stock outstanding. 

Richard L. Simons, president and CEO of Hardinge, stated on behalf of the board of directors: "We welcome Ryan to the board and look forward to his contributions to our strategy to grow Hardinge both organically and through acquisitions. We believe his experience will complement the wealth of knowledge our board represents."

Levenson is currently principal and portfolio manager of Privet Fund Management LLC. Levenson currently serves as a director of Frequency Electronics, Inc. and Cicero, Inc. Previously, Levenson served as a director of RELM Wireless, Inc., where he served as a member of the Audit Committee and as a director and member of the Compensation, Organization and Corporate Governance Committee of Material Sciences Corp. from May 2013 until its sale in March 2014. Levenson also served as a member of the board of directors and Compensation and Audit Committees of The Middleby Corporation from May 2006 until November 2012. Prior to founding Privet Fund Management LLC in February 2007, Levenson served as vice president of business development at MSI, a privately held building products distributor and construction services company, from 2003 until 2006. Prior to his service with MSI, Levenson served as a financial analyst for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn's long/short equity hedge fund after working at SAC Capital Advisors LLC in a similar capacity.