The following industry professionals have recently received appointments or promotions.
WACKER has appointed Christoph Kowitz CEO of the group’s U.S. subsidiary Wacker Chemical Corporation. He succeeds David Wilhoit, who is retiring.
Kowitz, who holds doctorates in organic chemistry and polymer chemistry, joined the company in 2013. He headed the Performance Silicones unit until 2018 when he became head of the Corporate Research Department. He previously worked at BASF AG before working as a consultant for McKinsey in Asia and Europe, and he would later go on to hold several management positions at Cognis,
ASK Chemicals Group has announced the appointment of Luiz Totti as CEO. Totti has held several key positions within ASK Chemicals, including managing director of South America, executive vice president (EVP) Americas, and EVP of Asia. Prior to joining ASK Chemicals, Luiz Totti held several leadership positions at such companies as Akzo Nobel and PPG.
ASTM International has appointed Andrew G. Kireta Jr. as the organization’s new president, succeeding Katharine Morgan, who served in the role since 2017.
Kireta is president and CEO of the Copper Development Association and has been an ASTM International member since 1998. He joined the board of directors in 2014 and has since served as chair of the audit and finance committee in 2017, vice chair in 2018 and 2019, and chair of the board in 2020. Kireta previously served as vice chair and chair of the board of SEI International, an ASTM affiliate.
Dow has appointed Brendy Lange as president of Performance Materials & Coatings. He succeeds Mauro Gregorio, who will retire at the end of September.
Lange has held several leadership and strategy-development positions across Dow, most recently as business vice president of Dow Industrial Solutions. He has also held roles in Corporate Development and Electronic Materials.
Prior to joining Dow in 2010, Lange worked as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago. He holds an MBA with honors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The ChemQuest Group has announced two new appointments. Sharon Feng has been named a vice president, while Prem Patel has joined the firm as a director.
Feng previously held several leadership positions with PPG Industries, most recently serving as global technical director for Corporate R&D. Feng earned a doctorate in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Patel has strategy, marketing, sales, operations, and product development experience in B2B value chains. Patel recently served as director of Corporate Strategy and Growth Options for Ingevity Corp. He holds an MBA from Duke University.
PPG has appointed Pascal Tisseyre as vice president, government affairs, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Tisseyre will lead the company’s regional government affairs activities, including oversight of public policy, political engagement, and related compliance activities.
Prior to leading PPG’s architectural coatings (AC), EMEA South business since 2019, Tisseyre served as finance director, PPG AC EMEA. He joined PPG in 2008. Previously, Tisseyre held finance and controllership roles at Sigma Coatings and SigmaKalon. He holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Dauphine in Paris.
PPG has also announced that Kathy L. Fortmann has been elected to its board of directors, effective in July. Fortmann most recently served as CEO of ACOMO N.V., a Dutch company focused on food products and ingredients for the food and beverage industry. She will serve on the PPG board’s Audit Committee and the Sustainability and Innovation Committee.
Lubrizol has announced Nitin Mengi will join the company as vice president, Lubrizol Additives IMEA, as well as chairman and managing director, Lubrizol India. Before joining Lubrizol, Mengi spent his entire career with BP, most recently serving as executive director of Castrol Singapore Private Limited and managing director of PT Castrol Indonesia.
In his new role, Mengi will support customers serving the IMEA region with local-for-local innovation, talent, and supply to advance the region’s transportation and industrial markets and propel customer success. The company says he will collaborate with Bhavana Bindra, who recently joined the team as VP, Lubrizol IMEA, to advance Lubrizol’s strategy in the region.