Latrobe, Pa., USA - December 9, 2010, Latrobe, Pa., USA - Kennametal, an engineering company, announced that John R. Tucker has been appointed to the position of vice president and president of business groups, effective immediately.
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Mr. Tucker will also continue to serve as Vice President and Chief Technical Officer until a successor is named.
Before joining Kennametal, he was Chairman and CEO of Sermatech International—a firm that develops and applies engineered protective coatings in a variety of markets where resistance to corrosion, erosion, fouling and high temperatures is essential.
Prior to leading Sermatech, Mr. Tucker served in key leadership positions in such companies as Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Daimler Benz Aerospace, AlliedSignal Aerospace and York International Corporation.
Mr. Tucker holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is a member of the Excela Health Board of Trustees. He and his wife, Caroline, reside in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
The company also announced that Gary Weismann, who most recently served as Vice President and President, Business Groups, has, after more than twenty-one years of total service with Kennametal, elected to retire effective January 4, 2011.
Mr. Weismann, who has more than 21 years of total service with Kennametal, originally joined the company in 1979.
During his tenure, he has assumed assignments of increasing responsibility, including international marketing, corporate planning and development, and mergers and acquisitions.
In 1994, Mr. Weismann left Kennametal to join TRINOVA Corporation, where he became leader of the Corporate Technology Organization before joining what is now Actuant Corporation.
At Actuant, he became Senior Vice President and General Manager, Engineered Products Division, leaving in 1999 for Marketing Solutions, a private management and development group, where he served as Managing Partner.
Mr. Weismann then rejoined Kennametal in 2004 as Vice President and General Manager of the Electronics Products Group.
Since then, he has served as Vice President of Energy, Mining and Construction Solutions Group, and most recently, as Vice President and President, AMSG since August 2007. ■