Goodyear Streamlines Senior Management
11 November 1998
Goodyear Streamlines Senior Management
AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 11 -- As part of its ongoing plan to
streamline operations and become the low-cost producer in its industry, The
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced several changes to its senior
leadership team resulting from retirements and the restructuring of
responsibilities. The positions of four elected officers are being
eliminated.
"It is important that we look at our senior leadership organization with
the same focus on efficiency and effectiveness given all other areas of our
global business," said Sam Gibara, Goodyear chairman, CEO and president.
"The moves are designed to strengthen our business and will streamline
communications and decision making," he added.
Lee N. Fiedler, president and chief executive officer of the Kelly-
Springfield Tire Division and a Goodyear vice president, will retire Jan. 1,
1999. His position will be eliminated as part of the integration of Kelly-
Springfield with Goodyear's North American Tire operations.
H. Clay Orme, vice president, product supply, will retire Jan. 1, 1999.
His position will be eliminated and his responsibilities reassigned within the
Global Support Operations group.
Jesse T. Williams Sr., vice president of human resources policy,
employment practices and systems, will retire Jan. 1, 1999. His position will
be eliminated and his responsibilities reassigned within Goodyear's corporate
human resources group.
James C. Whiteley, vice president of government compliance and product
quality, has been named director of tire evaluation at Goodyear's Akron
Technical Center, effective Dec. 1, 1998. He will replace Don E. Johnson, who
is retiring. Whiteley's current position will be eliminated and his
responsibilities moved to other areas of the company.
Joseph M. Gingo, who has been on special assignment to Gibara, will become
vice president and general manager of Goodyear's Engineered Products Division,
replacing Terry L. Persinger, who will go on special assignment.
Hugh D. Pace, president and managing director of Goodyear Mexico, has been
named vice president of Goodyear's Asia Region, effective Dec. 1, 1998. He
will replace Michael J. Roney, who will assume Pace's responsibilities at
Goodyear Mexico.
Fiedler, 57, has been Kelly-Springfield's president and CEO since 1991.
He joined Goodyear in 1963 as a trainee and held positions in chemical sales
and marketing, films sales, vinyl development, heating and air conditioning
equipment production and purchasing. Fiedler later held the positions of vice
president of purchasing and of Goodyear's Chemical Division.
Orme, 59, joined Goodyear in 1962 as a trainee and held various production
assignments before holding plant manager positions in Sun Prairie, Wis.;
Freeport, Ill.; and Lincoln, Neb. In 1986, he became Engineered Products'
director of manufacturing and, in 1987, director of tire manufacturing for
Goodyear's Latin America Region. He was elected vice president, product
supply in 1992.
Williams, 58, has been a human resources vice president since 1988,
holding successive leadership positions in diversity, safety and workers
compensation; compensation and employment practices; and human resources
policy, employment practices and systems. He joined Goodyear in 1962 as a
trainee and held various human resources management positions in North
Chicago, Ill.; Jackson, Mich.; Topeka, Kan.; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Akron.
Whiteley, 51, was elected to his present position in 1995. After joining
Goodyear in 1969 as a trainee, he has held quality management positions in
Tyler, Texas; Lawton, Okla.; Colmar Berg, Luxembourg; and Akron. He was named
vice president of product quality and safety in 1993.
Persinger, 53, has held his present position since he returned to Goodyear
from Shell Chemical in 1994. He moved to Shell in 1992 when it acquired the
company's Polyester Division, of which he had been vice president since 1989.
Persinger first joined Goodyear in 1968 and held a variety of positions within
Research and Development and the Polyester Division.
Gingo, 53, was vice president of Goodyear's Asia Region for three years
before moving to special assignment in September. He joined the company in
1966 as a design and development engineer and held several engineering and
technical management positions before being named director of the Luxembourg
Technical Center in 1983. Gingo was named vice president and general manager
of Goodyear's Aviation Products Division in 1986, president of the company's
Air Treads subsidiary in 1989 and vice president of tire technology in 1992.
Pace, 46, joined Goodyear in 1975 as a trainee and has held various sales
and marketing positions in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Valencia, Venezuela; and Lima,
Peru. He was named director of sales and marketing for Goodyear's Latin
America Region in 1987 and became president and managing director of Goodyear
Argentina in 1989. He was named to his present position in 1992.
Roney, 44, was managing director of Goodyear Brazil for three years before
assuming his present position in September. He previously was managing
director of Goodyear Argentina. After joining Goodyear in 1981 as a trainee,
Roney held various finance, sales and management positions in Hurlingham,
Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Lima, Peru.