Materials firm Chemours Co. has named Mark Newman as its new president and CEO.
The move will be effective July 1, officials with Chemours in Wilmington, Del., said in a news release. Newman currently is the firm's chief operating officer. In his new roles, he'll be replacing Mark Vergnano, who's held those posts since Chemours was created as a spinoff of DuPont Co. in 2015.
Plastics-related products made by Chemours include fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers and titanium dioxide, a common plastics whitener.
Newman joined Chemours in 2014 as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Officials said he was instrumental in the launch of Chemours as a standalone, publicly traded company. In 2019, Newman was appointed chief operating officer with responsibility over the firm's global commercial businesses.
Throughout 2020, Newman chaired Chemours' crisis leadership team, which oversaw the firm's global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He's also executive sponsor of the Chemours diversity and inclusion council.
Prior to Chemours, Newman was senior vice president and CFO of SunCoke Energy, a materials firm based in the Chicago area. He also spent 17 years at General Motors Co. in a variety of roles.
"I am honored and excited by the opportunity to lead Chemours," Newman said. "This is a tremendously strong company that is poised for continued growth.
"We have an unparalleled workforce of 6,500 people who are committed to responsibly meeting the demands of our changing world with our chemistry and products that enable modern life," he added.
Vergnano will assume the position of chairman of the firm's board of directors for the rest of 2021. In this role, Vergnano succeeds Richard Brown, who has announced his intention to retire after leading the board for the last six years. Along with these changes, board member Dawn Farrell will become the company's lead independent director.
"Leading Chemours and its people since the company's founding has been an absolute honor and privilege," said Vergnano, who began his career at DuPont in 1980. "I am immensely proud of what we have achieved in establishing and then transforming ourselves into the solid company we are today."
Vergnano is a past chairman of the board of the American Chemistry Council and co-chair of ACC's sustainability committee. He also is a past chairman of the National Safety Council.
Chemours posted sales of just under $5 billion in 2020. The firm operates 30 manufacturing sites worldwide and serves almost 3,300 customers.