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The raw materials industry is on the move again, with a new helmsman at BASF; honors and appointments at Bayer MaterialScience; a new EVP at US Zinc.
New Chairman Leads BASF
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| Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht (left), outgoing chairman of BASF SE, gifts Dr. Kurt Bock with a jersey that says it all at the company’s annual meeting. |
Dr. Kurt Bock has succeeded Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht as Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, putting Bock at the top of the world’s largest chemical and performance products company.
Bock, 52, started his career at BASF in 1985 in the Finance Department in Ludwigshafen, Germany. From 1992 until 1997, he worked for Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany, and Brazil. In 1998, he returned to BASF as Chief Financial Officer of the company’s North American subsidiary; two years later, he became President of Logistics & Information Services for BASF in Ludwigshafen.
Bock was named to BASF's Board of Executive Directors as Chief Financial Officer in 2003. Since 2007, he has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BASF Corp., based in New Jersey. He is married and has three children.
Hambrecht, chairman since 2003, retired last month.
New SVP for Dispersions & Pigments
BASF Corp. has appointed Derek Fairclough as Senior Vice President, Dispersions & Pigments, in North America.
The business provides a broad portfolio of resins, binders, latex, pigments and effect pigments, colorants, specialty additives, minerals and systems for the adhesives, sealants, architectural coatings, construction, asphalt modification and other markets.
Fairclough, based in Charlotte, NC, joined BASF in 2009 with the acquisition of Ciba Corp., where he was a member of the Global Leadership Board.
PPG Coatings Manager Goes to Bayer
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| Coatings veteran Steven Sternberger has left PPG Industries for Bayer MaterialScience’s Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties business unit. |
Bayer MaterialScience LLC has appointed Steven Sternberger as industrial marketing manager for coatings in the Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties (CAS) business unit.
Sternberger will lead the unit’s efforts to meet the changing coatings requirements for industrial, construction, automotive, corrosion protection and specialty customers.
Before joining Bayer, Sternberger was the director of marketing for industrial coatings at PPG Industries. With 30 years of marketing and sales experience in many segments of the coatings industry, he brings an external market perspective to the CAS team, the company said.
“We know that Steven’s extensive experience in the industry will benefit our CAS team, as well as our customers,” said vice president Rich Sabatine.
Sternberger has an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business.
Scientist to Lead RadTech
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| Michael Dvorchak, of Bayer MaterialScience LLC, has been elected president of the RadTech International North America board for 2013 and 2014. |
Bayer MaterialScience LLC scientist Michael Dvorchak has become president-elect for the RadTech International North America board, positioning him for a two-year term as president beginning in 2013.
RadTech North America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) technology.
Dvorchak has been a RadTech member since 1992 and head of its Emerging Applications Group since 2009.
He says industry relies on RadTech’s ability to “enthusiastically introduce budding technologies into the mainstream coatings, inks and adhesives business areas, and to expand into new areas, such as aerospace, flooring, exterior UV coatings and new oligomer technology.”
Dvorchak said he hoped to drive the UV/EB-cure concept into the mainstream of the coatings industry.
U.S. Zinc Taps Commercial EVP
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| Polymers veteran Tracy Baugh is the new Executive Vice President, Commercial, for U.S. Zinc. |
U.S. Zinc has hired sales veteran Tracy Baugh as Executive Vice President, Commercial, with responsibility for global commercial, marketing and sales.
Baugh most recently worked as commercial director for a global leader in specialized polymer materials. Throughout his career, he has held numerous sales and management positions with noted chemical and polymer companies.
U.S. Zinc is headquartered in Houston, where Baugh will be based. The company is a worldwide supplier of zinc dust and the largest producer of zinc oxide in the world.
Michelman Revamps Structure
Michelman, a global developer of water-based functional coatings, surface modifiers, and polymers, has reorganized its corporate structure, shifting a number of executives in the process.
The Cincinnati-based company is now divided into four business units—Paper & Corrugated, Flexible Packaging, Fibers & Composites, and Chemical Specialties— each headed by a global manager. Steve Ruehrwein will oversee Chemical Specialties; Dr. Bruce Berglund, Paper; Dr. Yves De Smet, Fibers & Composites; and Bjarne Ry Schmidt, Flexible Packaging.
In addition, Dr. Rick Michelman has been appointed VP/Chief Technology Officer. Company president and CEO Steve Shifman called the new structure “an aggressive and exciting strategy.”
Chemical Specialties Gets New R&D Manager
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| Dr. Michael Kramer will head Michelman’s Specialty Chemical Activities R&D efforts. |
In other recent changes, Michelman has named Dr. Michael Kramer as Chemical Specialties R&D Manager. Kramer will serve on the company’s technology leadership team; his duties will include project and technology leadership, technical service, and laboratory management.
Kramer earned a Ph.D. in Polymer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi and has more than 15 years of technology experience in the specialty chemical industry, including experience in radiation-curable and water-based technology, industrial coatings and powder coatings.
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