Quaker Houghton taps Andrew Tometich as new CEO and president
Andrew Tometich has been appointed chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Quaker Houghton, a world leader in industrial fluids based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., effective December 1, 2021. He will also join the Quaker Houghton board.
Tometich will join Quaker Houghton at the beginning of October 2021. He will then begin transitioning with Michael F. Barry, current CEO and president, who will retire on December 31, 2021. Barry, who has been with Quaker Houghton since 1993, spent 13 years as president and CEO. Barry will remain chairman of the board.
Barry said, “The last two years have been a crucial period in our company’s growth and we’ve focused on increasing the value of our global businesses. Andy is the right choice to help us realize that vision. Andy is an exceptional fit for Quaker Houghton because of his remarkable achievements in building complex global specialty chemicals businesses, his strategic abilities, and his passion for the customer-intimate method.”
Tometich has managed businesses in a wide range of industries, including transport, energy, packaging and industrial manufacturing and processing. Tometich spent most of his 30-plus year career at Dow Corning. Tometich was a key leader in Dow Corning’s global restructuring into technology-focused, customer-intimate businesses that drove differentiated growth. Most recently, he was H.B. Fuller’s executive vice president, Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives, where he led the team that restructured autonomous regional businesses to become a customer-focused, market-segment business. They were able to achieve above-market growth despite facing unprecedented challenges from Covid-19 as well as disruptions in global supply chains.
“I feel an intuitive alignment with Quaker Houghton’s customer-intimate approach to business and drive for results. We are well-positioned to provide customer-valued growth and have the talent, determination and ability to do so. Quaker Houghton has done an outstanding job in collaborating so well through the integration and challenges that came with Covid-19. As we continue to build on our success and take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, I am delighted to work with this team,” said Tometich.
Quaker Houghton has also promoted Joseph A. Berquist, who has been with Quaker Houghton for 24 years, as its executive vice president and chief strategy officer. He also became the managing director of Global Specialty Businesses. Berquist will not only have the current responsibility for directing the company’s strategic priorities but will also be responsible for leading the company’s mergers and acquisitions as well as sustainability efforts, information technology and digitization efforts. Berquist will continue to oversee the company’s specialty businesses around the world.
