PPG's Boswell Announces Retirement; Fisher Elected VP, Marketing-Communications
1 December 2000
PPG's Boswell Announces Retirement; Fisher Elected VP, Marketing-Communications
PITTSBURGH--Dec. 1, 2000--L. Blaine Boswell, PPG Industries' vice president of public affairs, said he will retire March 31 after more than 32 years with the company.Assuming responsibility for internal and external communication is Benjamin R. Fisher Jr., 48, director, corporate marketing, who was elected vice president, corporate marketing and communications.
Jeffrey R. Gilbert, 58, vice president, government affairs, will be in charge of the company's relations with elected officials and regulators. In addition, Gilbert will be executive director of the PPG Industries Foundation.
Boswell, 60, joined subsidiary PPG Canada's automotive glass business in 1966 and held human resources management posts at facilities in Oshawa, Toronto and Georgetown, Ontario. After two years as human resources manager for a Canadian chemical firm, he returned to PPG Canada in 1971 as director of personnel and industrial relations. He was later manager of the Oshawa automotive glass plant and vice president of automotive glass fabrication.
Boswell moved to Pittsburgh in 1981 as general manager of aircraft products, was named vice president of flat glass at PPG Canada in 1983 and returned to Pittsburgh as general manager of automotive replacement glass and aircraft products a year later.
He was named corporate vice president, international, in 1987, and to the additional post of president, PPG Europe, PPG Industries International, Paris, in 1988. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1994 as vice president, public affairs, responsible for corporate communications, government affairs and the PPG Industries Foundation.
A native of Peterborough, Ontario, Boswell graduated from the General Motors Institute with a degree in industrial engineering.
Fisher joined PPG in 1995 as corporate director of marketing. He previously spent 17 years with the H.J. Heinz Co., where he served in a variety of marketing posts, the last of which was vice president, business development. Fisher earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
PPG is a leading global supplier of coatings, glass, fiber glass and chemicals. With about 120 production operations in 23 states of the United States and 22 other countries, PPG's 1999 sales totaled $7.8 billion.
Internet: www.ppg.com