Buckman, Memphis, Tenn., USA this week announced that Kathy Buckman Gibson has been named president and COO for Buckman International. In assuming her new position, Buckman Gibson will step away from her role as chairman of the board of Buckman, a position she has held since 2000. Assuming the chairman's role will be Buckman board member Otto Heissenberger Jr.
Buckman Gibson (photo) first joined Buckman Laboratories International Inc. in 1993 as VP, legal and corporate secretary. In assuming the chairmanship of the parent company in 2000, she succeeded her father, Robert Buckman, as chairman of the company her grandfather, Stanley J. Buckman, created in 1945. Buckman Gibson holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and an MBA and JD from Emory University. Prior to joining Buckman, she worked as an analyst for Citicorp and at Smith, Gambrell & Russell as an associate in mergers and acquisitions.
Buckman Gibson replaces the recently retired Edson Peredo, a 40-year employee of Buckman, in the president of Buckman International position.
In the position of president and COO for Buckman International, Buckman Gibson's focus will be on growing operational results, customer relationships, and international reputation of Buckman as a global leader in the specialty chemical industry. Included in her area of focus is the implementation and execution of the global business's strategic plan and the implementation of effective policies and procedures that move the company forward. She and her team will track industry trends and opportunities for Buckman customers that affect the company's business and the overall growth in the markets it serves.
Gibson Buckman is respected and recognized as a leader around the world in the industries in which Buckman participates and for her community leadership and dedication.
Within Buckman, Gibson Buckman leads the company's global BuckmanCares initiative with community relations, volunteerism, and giving activities that impact some 100,000 people each year. Outside of Buckman, she has served as a board member of Buckeye Technologies and is a past Trustee of the TAPPI Foundation and past vice-chairman of the board of executives of the Sloan Center for Paper Business Industry Studies (CPBIS). She has also served as a board member of TAPPI and PIMA, both associations serving the pulp and paper industry.
Buckman Gibson is actively involved in a variety of charitable organizations, and currently serves as a Trustee of the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis and as a board member of the National Civil Rights Museum. As a member of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce Chairman's Circle, she currently chairs the Circle's Pre-K Initiative. She is on the national board of directors for Girls Inc. and presently serves as treasurer of that organization. Past leadership roles have been held with United Way of the Mid-South, Memphis Talent Dividend, Girls Inc. of Memphis, Memphis in May International Festival, Mid-South Reading Alliance, St. Mary's Episcopal School, the Assisi Foundation, and Memphis BioWorks Foundation.
Heissenberger, a Buckman board member since 2010, has more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry. He retired in 2008 from Voith Paper in Appleton, Wis., where he served as president and CEO of the company's North American business for six years. He has also served as a board member for the Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation in Syracuse, N.Y., from 1989 to 2007, and the Association of Suppliers to the Paper Industry from 2004 to 2007.
Heissenberger becomes the first non-Buckman-family member to chair the board. He holds a graduate engineering degree in mechanical engineering from Technical College in Graz, Austria, and has completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.
In other organizational changes, Buckman announced the retirement of Robin Luck as Vice President of Global Marketing. Luck had been in the position since 2004.
TAPPI
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