Houghton Names New CEO
Mike Shannon succeeds Paul DeVivo, who is retiring.
Posted: December 6, 2015
“I am honored to become the next chief executive of this company. We have a goal of expanding our leadership in the global industrial fluids and services market by partnering with customers to improve the profitability and safety of their operations. We have the people, products and strategies in place to be successful, and I look forward to leading them to achieve our goal.”
Houghton International, Inc. (Valley Forge, PA) a global leader in metalworking fluids and services, announced on November 16 that its board of directors has appointed Mike Shannon as chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2016. Shannon, who currently serves as the company’s chief operating officer, will succeed current CEO Paul DeVivo, who will retire.
“Mike has a long and proven track record of leading global industrial chemicals businesses,” said Sanjay Hinduja, chairman of the board of Houghton. “For us, he has realigned the organization to better serve industry segments, led operations in the emerging Asia Pacific markets to achieve record performance, and directed the optimization of global manufacturing, information technology and environmental, health and safety (EHS) processes. This legacy of leadership will enable Mike to successfully lead the organization into a new era of growth and innovation.”
Shannon joined the company as vice president of global operations, supply chain, IT and EHS in 2009. Prior to that he spent 24 years in various roles at Ashland Inc., including senior vice president of the company’s $1.5 billion Global Performance Materials Division and president of their global supply chain, as well as being appointed as an officer of Ashland. His experience also includes leadership roles in various functions at Ashland Specialty Chemicals, including manufacturing, business development, purchasing, M&A and strategic planning.
“I am honored to become the next chief executive of this company,” said Shannon. “We have a goal of expanding our leadership in the global industrial fluids and services market by partnering with customers to improve the profitability and safety of their operations. We have the people, products and strategies in place to be successful, and I look forward to leading them to achieve our goal.”
A native of West Chester, PA, Shannon earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Temple University. In addition, he has completed the General Manager Program at Harvard University, Executive Marketing Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business and the Executive Development Program at Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business.
As Shannon assumes the position of chief executive, Marcello Boldrini will become the president for Asia Pacific, in addition to his current roles as senior vice president of Houghton International and president for global mining and metals. Boldrini joined the company in August 2015, bringing decades of experience and leadership in the global specialty chemicals industry, and specifically in the Asia Pacific region.
“Marcello brings valuable leadership and industry experience to us,” noted Shannon. “We are realigning our businesses to better serve our global customers, and I am confident that Marcello will lead our Asia Pacific region, in addition to our mining and metals organization, to expand our market leadership.”
Since 1865, Houghton has been serving the metalworking, aluminum and steel industries, along with a variety of other markets including the offshore oil exploration metal finishing and surface treatment industry, with the development and production of specialty chemicals, oils and lubricants. Headquartered in Valley Forge, the company maintains manufacturing and research facilities throughout the world.
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