Matheson of Basking Ridge, NJ, USA, a subsidiary of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC), says that William J. Kroll has transferred to the role of executive chairman of the board of directors, effective 2 January 2013. Kroll was previously the firm's chairman and chief executive officer. Scott Kallman, previously president and chief operating officer, has been appointed as the firm's new president and CEO.
Kroll has been chairman and CEO of Matheson for nine years. He will continue to lead the firm's board and corporate auditing functions, and will continue to serve as a member of the board of directors for Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp.
Prior to joining Matheson in 2001 for a second time, Kroll served as executive vice president of Business Development at Emcore, where he was instrumental in taking that company public. He played a key part forming joint ventures and making acquisitions. His most notable accomplishments were the formation of GELcore, the joint venture in solid-state lighting with General Electric Lighting; the joint venture with Uniroyal Technology Corp. in the formation of Uniroyal Optoelectronics, a maker of light emitting diode chips; and the joint venture with Union Miniere in the use of Germanium substrates for III-V devices.
"This leadership transition will allow me to focus on capitalizing on growth opportunities and synergies afforded by close coordination with TNSC," said Kroll. "I am looking forward to working with newly appointed TNSC chairman Hiroshi Taguchi to help move the TNSC Group forward on the global stage."
In his expanded role, Kallman will continue to lead Matheson's operations and customer-facing divisions, while also assuming responsibility for corporate administration, human resources, legal services, business development, information technology, R&D, marketing, and finance.
"Scott Kallman joined Matheson in 2005, running the industrial side of the business, and since then, he has made several significant improvements in the areas of safety, quality, and customer focus, serving recently as chief operating officer," added Kroll. "Scott is the right person to take Matheson to the next level as we seek to advance the company as a world leader in the industrial, specialty, and electronics market segments."