Oklahoma City, Ok., USA - December 26, 2014, Oklahoma City, Ok., USA - LSB Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of chemical products, announced that it has approved a leadership transition plan that capitalizes on the strength and depth of management.
Article continues below
Jack E. Golsen, currently Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and the founder of LSB, will step down as CEO and assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2015.
At that time, Barry H. Golsen, currently President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Barry Golsen will remain a Director of the Company.
Jack Golsen founded LSB Industries in 1969 and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer since the Company’s inception. He previously served as the Company’s President from 1969 until 2004. Mr. Golsen was inducted into the Oklahoma Commerce and Industry Hall of Honor as one of Oklahoma’s leading industrialists in 1996.
Mr. Golsen is a Trustee of Oklahoma City University and has served on its Finance Committee for many years. He previously served on the boards of insurance companies, several banks and was Board Chairman of Equity Bank for Savings N.A., which was formerly owned by the Company.
In 1972, he was nationally recognized as the person who prevented a widespread collapse of the Wall Street investment banking industry, as referenced in “The Second Crash†by Charles Ellis, and six additional books about the Wall Street crisis. Mr. Golsen has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Mexico.
Barry Golsen is Board Vice-Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer of LSB Industries. Mr. Golsen joined LSB Industries in 1978 as a product manager at International Environmental Corp. (IEC) where he was responsible for the development and introduction of LSB’s first water source heat pump product line and the startup of CHP Corp. to manufacture and market those products.
He became Executive Vice President of IEC in 1979 and IEC’s President in 1980. Mr. Golsen spearheaded the growth of LSB’s Climate Control Business with a number of business startups as well as the acquisition of Climate Master, Inc. (and its merger with CHP Corp. and subsequent move to Oklahoma City).
Mr. Golsen has served on the LSB Board of Directors since 1981, has been Board Vice-Chairman of LSB since 1993, and became LSB’s President and Chief Operating Officer in 2004. He attended Cornell University College of Engineering prior to earning both his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Oklahoma. He was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1978. Mr. Golsen is a past Director of the Oklahoma City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
He served on the Board of Directors of Equity Bank for Savings, and on many of the bank’s committees including the loan committee and investment committee. His professional affiliations have included the Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers, Young Presidents Organization, and World Presidents Organization.
LSB also announced that Mark T. Behrman, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective as of the 2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Mr. Behrman joined LSB as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development in March 2014. Mr. Behrman has over 20 years of investment banking experience with a primary focus on the industrial and business services sectors, previously serving as a Managing Director at Sterne Agee & Leach, Inc., leading the firm’s industrials, transportation, and energy practices.
During his career, Mr. Behrman has originated and executed numerous merger and acquisition transactions, equity and debt capital market transactions and private capital raises for U.S. corporate clients in these sectors. He was previously a Founder and Senior Managing Director of BlueStone Capital Partners, LP, where he was part of a team that created Trade.com Global Markets, Inc., and Founder and Director of the BlueStone/AFA Private Equity Fund.
He began his investment banking career at PaineWebber, Incorporated and at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. Additionally, he has been a director of three public companies including Noble International, Ltd. where he served as a Director for over 8 years and as Chairman of its Audit Committee for three years.
Mr. Behrman holds a Masters of Business Administration from Hofstra University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Binghamton University.
Mr. Behrman will succeed Tony M. Shelby, LSB’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who plans to retire in twelve months.
Mr. Shelby is Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of LSB Industries, a position he has held since 1971. He has served as a member of the LSB executive management team since inception in 1969 and served as a Director from 1971 until 2014.
Mr. Shelby, along with Jack Golsen, guided the formation of and the growth of LSB’s Chemical Business through a number of acquisitions and construction projects beginning with the acquisition of the El Dorado Facility in 1984. He served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Equity Bank for Savings. N.A.
Prior to joining LSB, Mr. Shelby was with the accounting firm of Arthur Young & Co., a predecessor to Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Shelby has a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from Oklahoma City University, is a certified public accountant, a member of the Oklahoma Society of CPAs, and the American Institute of CPAs. ■