Specialty chemicals company H.B. Fuller said Wednesday that Al Stroucken, chairman, president and chief executive officer, resigned, effective December 1.
Succeeding Stroucken as president and CEO will be Michele Volpi, currently group president and general manager of the organization’s Global Adhesives business group. Volpi will also join the H.B. Fuller board of directors. Lee Mitau, executive vice president and general counsel, U.S. Bancorp, and independent director of H.B. Fuller since 1996, has been elected non-executive chairman of the board.
“This is a good time for a leadership change,” said Stroucken, who joined the company in 1998 and was responsible for strengthening the company’s financial performance and repositioning it as a specialty chemical business. “H.B. Fuller is well-positioned to deliver sustained and profitable growth over the next several years.
Volpi joined H.B. Fuller in June 2002 as global manager for the company’s Assembly business. After guiding that strategic business unit to improved financial results, he assumed leadership for the company’s Global Adhesives group in December 2004. In this role, he orchestrated a turnaround and repositioning of the company’s flagship adhesives business, which represents approximately 70 percent of the company’s total sales.
Prior to joining H.B. Fuller, Volpi served as general manager of marketing for the Polymershapes business unit of GE, and European marketing director for its structured products business.
“H.B. Fuller is on a very solid trajectory. We remain committed to our ongoing strategies to further improve profitability, focusing on our differentiation strategy, centered around innovation, value-added offerings, and customer intimacy,” Volpi said.