Eaton Corporation Names Kristen M. Bihary Vice President-Communications
28 May 1999
Eaton Corporation Names Kristen M. Bihary Vice President-Communications
CLEVELAND--May 28, 1999--Eaton Corporation today named Kristen M. Bihary to the position of Vice President-Communications, effective June 21, 1999. She will have worldwide responsibility for the company's internal and external communications activities, as well as the corporate identity function.Bihary joins Eaton from Shell Chemical Company in Houston, Texas, where she was Vice President, External Affairs, Internal and Marketing Communications. She succeeds John W. Hushen, who had earlier announced his retirement.
Bihary was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1975 with a B. A. in Social Psychology. From 1975 to 1984 she worked in a variety of public affairs positions at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and in 1984 joined the Cleveland public relations and marketing firm of Watt, Roop & Co. as an Account Manager. She was promoted to a Vice President of the firm in 1987.
In 1989, Bihary became Director of Marketing Services for Medimetrix Group, a Cleveland-based firm that specializes in consulting on health issues. In 1991, she was named Director, Corporate Communications for Johnson & Johnson's Pharmaceutical Research Institute and later, for Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical companies. Bihary joined Varity Corporation in 1995 as Vice President, Public Affairs and in 1998, was named by Shell Chemical Company, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, to her most recent position.
Hushen, 63, joined Eaton in 1976 as Director of Government Relations in Washington, D. C., and was elected vice president of that activity in 1981. He relocated to Cleveland in 1991 as Vice President of Corporate Affairs. In that capacity he also served as chairman of the Eaton Charitable Fund and the Eaton Public Policy Association, the company's political action committee.
Eaton is a global manufacturer of highly engineered products that serve industrial, vehicle, construction, commercial, aerospace and semiconductor markets. Principal products include hydraulic products and fluid connectors, electrical power distribution and control equipment, truck drivetrain systems, engine components, ion implanters and a wide variety of controls. Headquartered in Cleveland, the company has 65,000 employees and 215 manufacturing sites in 25 countries around the world. Eaton's sales for 1998 were $6.6 billion. On April 9, 1999, Eaton acquired Aeroquip-Vickers, Inc., which had sales of $2.1 billion in 1998. The Internet address for Eaton is: http://www.eaton.com/