Management Bios


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Management Bios

James F. Kirsch
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

James F. Kirsch is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ferro Corporation. Mr. Kirsch joined Ferro in 2004 as President and Chief Operating Officer, became President and Chief Executive Officer in 2005 and added responsibilities as Chairman in 2006.

Prior to joining Ferro, Mr. Kirsch served as President of Premix Inc. and Quantum Composites, manufacturers of thermoset molding compounds, parts and sub-assemblies for the automotive, aerospace, electrical and HVAC industries. Earlier, he served as President and a director for Ballard Generation Systems and Vice President for Ballard Power Systems in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Mr. Kirsch began his career with The Dow Chemical Company, where he spent 19 years in positions of increasing responsibility, including Global Business Director of Propylene Oxide and Derivatives and Global Vice President of Electrochemicals.

Mr. Kirsch currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater Cleveland, the American Red Cross, Greater Cleveland Chapter, and John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Playhouse Square Foundation in Cleveland.

Mr. Kirsch received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Ohio State University.

W. Thomas Austin
Vice President, Operations

Tom Austin joined Ferro in April 2007 as Vice President, Operations. Mr. Austin is responsible for Ferro's manufacturing operations, with a focus on process and systems improvement and safety and security.

Mr. Austin spent 30 years of his career at The Dow Chemical Company in manufacturing and plant management roles, and was Global Operations Leader for Dow's chlor-alkali derivatives business when he retired in 2003. He held positions in areas that included plant maintenance; production process improvement/Six Sigma; environmental operations and safety management; research and development; and technology licensing.

Mr. Austin earned a degree in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University.

Sallie B. Bailey
Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Sallie B. Bailey is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ferro Corporation, with responsibility for overall financial management, including internal audit, accounting, treasury, tax, budgeting, and investor relations, as well as worldwide information technology.

Ms. Bailey joined Ferro in 2007 after serving as senior vice president-finance and controller with The Timken Company, Canton, Ohio. She joined Timken in 1995 as director of finance and was promoted into key financial management roles, including treasurer and corporate controller. Before joining Timken, she was with Tenneco Inc. in Houston, Texas, and Deloitte and Touche in Chicago, Illinois.

Ms Bailey earned a bachelor's degree in economics and German from Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, and a master of business administration degree in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago. She also serves as a director of Milacron, Inc., a global manufacturer of plastics processing equipment and supplies.

James C. Bays
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Mr. Bays is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, with responsibility for the legal affairs of Ferro Corporation and its subsidiaries worldwide. He also is responsible for management of Ferro's internal Environmental, Health & Safety Audit function.

Prior to joining Ferro in 2001, Mr. Bays served as a senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer for Invensys plc, London, a global supplier of automation and control systems. Throughout his extensive career, he also served in legal management positions with GenCorp, Akron, Ohio and TRW Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.

Mr. Bays received his Juris Doctorate degree from University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, Virginia, and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. He also attended the Executive Program at the Amos B. Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Ann E. Killian
Vice President, Human Resources

Ann E. Killian is Vice President, Human Resources with worldwide responsibility for the human resources function. Prior to joining Ferro in 2005, Ms. Killian was Vice President, Human Resources for W.W. Holdings, LLC, a privately owned, $350 million manufacturer and distributor of commercial construction products.

Ms. Killian began her career with TRW, Inc. where she spent 21 years. There, she held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President, Compensation and Benefits at the time the company was acquired by Northrop Grumman. Prior to that, Ms. Killian was Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness at the company’s Cleveland headquarters and Vice President, Human Resources for the Avionics and Surveillance Group in San Diego, California.

Ms. Killian earned her master of business administration in Personnel Management from Cornell University and bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Buffalo State College.

Michael J. Murry
Vice President, Inorganic Specialties

Michael J. Murry is Vice President of Ferro's Inorganic Specialties business unit, which includes its Performance Coatings and Color and Glass Performance Materials segments. Prior to joining Ferro in 2005, Mr. Murry was President, CEO and a director for Catalytica Energy Systems, a development-stage clean energy company. He was Vice President and General Manager for the portable and stationary power businesses at Ballard Power Systems and prior to that was Vice President of Marketing at American Natural Soda Ash.

Mr. Murry began his career at The Dow Chemical Company where he spent 15 years in a variety of marketing and business operations management roles, including Market Manager for the specialty epoxy and vinyl ester resin business, Global Business Operations Manager for epoxy resins, and Business Operations Manager for the polycarbonate and thermoplastic polyurethanes businesses.

Mr. Murry earned his master of business administration from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor and master of science degrees in chemical engineering at Michigan State University.

Barry D. Russell
Vice President, Electronic Material Systems

Barry Russell Barry D. Russell is Vice President of Ferro's Electronic Material Systems (EMS) business unit.

Mr. Russell joined Ferro in 2006. He came to the Company from Honeywell International, where he had worked since 2000. He had served as Group Vice President & General Manager, Electronic Materials. His prior positions at Honeywell included Business Director-General Manager, Performance Chemicals/Specialty Polymers, and Director of Marketing, Specialty Chemicals.

Before his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Russell was Director of Marketing for Mattson-CFM Technologies, a manufacturer of semiconductor/flat panel display capital equipment. From 1988 to 1997, he worked for FMC Corporation’s Specialty Chemicals Group in a number of roles, including Business Manager, Fine Chemicals and Electronics, and Manager, Marketing & Commercial Development.

Mr. Russell holds a bachelor of science degree in Chemical Engineering from Akron University and an master of business administration from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.

Peter T. Thomas
Vice President, Organic Specialties

Peter Thomas is Vice President of Ferro's Organic Specialties business unit, which includes its Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals, Polymer Additives and Specialty Plastics operations. He began his career with Ferro in 2000 as Director of Sales for Polymer Additives. He has held increasingly responsible positions, including Commercial Director for Performance and Fine Chemicals, then later Worldwide Business Director for both the Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals businesses.

Prior to joining Ferro, Mr. Thomas was Vice President of the Oleochemical-Derivatives business unit for Witco Corporation. He also held positions as Vice President of Sales and Market Manager. Before joining Witco, he was Executive Vice President for Inland Leidy Chemical Distribution, Business Manager for GAF Corporation, and prior to that with Noxell Corporation.

Mr. Thomas earned his master of business administration degree in marketing from Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland and his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is on the Board of Trustees for the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland and is a member of the International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council, Soap and Detergents Association, the Society of Plastics Engineers and the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).