Editor’s note: The following industry professionals have recently received promotions or appointments. To submit your company’s personnel news for possible publication in CoatingsTech, email publications@paint.org with “Names in the News” in the subject line.
RPM International Inc.’s Board of Directors has announced two key leadership changes. David Dennsteadt has been appointed RPM executive vice president. In this role, he will oversee all corporate administrative functions, including finance, legal, risk management, human resources, manufacturing, and operations. Dennsteadt most recently served as group president of RPM’s Performance Coatings Group (PCG).
Succeeding Dennsteadt as group president of the newly expanded PCG is Gregory Michael. Previously, Michael served as president of RPM company, Stonhard. RPM says these leadership updates come as part of a broader strategic reorganization designed to streamline operations and transition from four reporting groups to three.
Huntsman Corporation has named Julia Wright executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary. She succeeds current general counsel, David Stryker, who will serve as executive vice president, Strategic Initiatives, pending his retirement at the end of 2025.
Wright has over 15 years of executive experience, most recently as senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary at ChampionX Corporation, where she was responsible for the legal organization until it was acquired by SLB (formerly Schlumberger) in July 2025.
Ingevity Corporation has named Ruth Castillo as senior vice president and president of Performance Materials, the company’s activated carbon segment. She will also join Ingevity’s executive leadership team as senior vice president. Castillo most recently served as vice president of global chemicals at Avantor. She holds an MBA in International Management from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.
The supervisory board of BASF SE has announced a series of executive changes. Mary Kurian and Livio Tedeschi have been appointed to the Board of Executive Directors, effective May 1, 2026. Kurian will take over the Chemicals and Nutrition & Care segments of the company. Tedeschi will assume new board responsibilities for the Agricultural Solutions segment in preparation for the division’s planned partial IPO. At the same time, Michael Heinz will retire as planned, effective April 30, 2026.
In addition, Nina Schwab-Hautzinger, head of Corporate Communications & Government Relations, will leave BASF effective January 31, 2026, to take on a new professional opportunity. The company will announce a successor at a later date.
BASF has also announced that Jolen Stein, senior director, People Services, at the company’s Verbund site in Geismar, La., has been named one of 12 outstanding leaders who make up the 2025 class of Women in Manufacturing (WiM) Hall of Fame inductees.
The WiM Hall of Fame was started in 2019 by the Women in Manufacturing Association to recognize women who have made, or are making, significant contributions to the manufacturing industry.
Eastman has named Martin Rogers as technology manager, CASE Technology Division. Most recently, Rogers served as group leader, Coatings Product Translation and Development. He has been with Eastman since 2014.
Cortec® Corporation has appointed Ivana Radic Borsic executive vice president and managing director of its European subsidiary, CorteCros d.o.o. In her new role, she will oversee the company’s strategic growth, sales, logistics, and production throughout Europe and globally. Borsic will also retain her current title as vice president of Sales, Europe, for Cortec, ensuring tight integration between CorteCros’s operational capabilities and Cortec’s broader European sales strategy.
The National Steel Painting Contractors Association (NSPCA) has announced a leadership transition effective January 1, 2026. Retiring executive director Deborah Wyandt, Esq., who has helmed the association since 2021, will be succeeded on an interim basis by Joye Blanscett, who was engaged by NSPCA in April 2025 as a consultant. NSPCA will appoint a permanent executive director in early 2026.
The ChemQuest Group, Inc. has appointed three new directors: Bernardo Montes, Steven Roth, and Richard Karpowicz.
Montes has extensive experience in operations management within global organizations, including positions of increasing authority with Thyssen Henschel S.A., Thyssen Gus S.A., Thyssen Stearns Inc., and Milliken & Co. Montes holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, and an MBA and doctorate from the University of Oviedo.
Roth has built extensive specialty chemicals experience in a range of sectors, including coatings, adhesives, fine fragrance, home care, and animal feed additives over the course of his career with Emerald Kalama Chemical and Lanxess. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Northwest Nazarene University, an MBA from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate in Bio-organic Chemistry from the University of Nevada.
Karpowicz is a chemist and ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt with four decades of experience in adhesives, tapes, labels, and medical devices. He most recently served as owner of Adhesive Tape Label LLC. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University, as well as a doctorate in Chemistry (Physical Organic) from the University of Delaware.