05.30.19
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. appointed William M. Cook to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Cook will serve on the Company's Audit Committee and Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Committee.
"As a former Chairman and CEO of a similarly-sized industrial manufacturing company, Bill is a proven executive with a compelling track record of driving growth, building a business, and serving global customers across industries, while delivering substantial returns to shareholders," said Charlie Shaver, Axalta's chairman of the Board. "With his breadth and depth of experience, he brings a unique business perspective and invaluable insight to our Board as we look to continue to grow our business and seek new opportunities to create and deliver shareholder value."
Cook most recently served as executive chairman of Donaldson Company, Inc. until 2016, and prior to that served as chairman, CEO and president of Donaldson for more than 10 years. During his 35-year career at Donaldson, Cook held various roles of increasing responsibility, including SVP, International; CFO; and SVP, Commercial and Industrial.
Since 2008, Cook has been a director of IDEX Corporation serving as lead director and a member of the Audit Committee. Cook has also been a Director of Neenah, Inc. since 2016, serving as non-executive chair since May 2019 and on the Audit Committee. Previously, Cook served on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Valspar Corporation from 2010-2017.
Cook's appointment is the culmination of a search process conducted by the Board to replace Andreas Kramvis following his decision not to stand for re-election at the 2019 Annual General Meeting.
The company also announced the departure of Lori Ryerkerk from the Board following her appointment as CEO of Celanese Corporation.
With the appointment of Cook and resignation of Ryerkerk, Axalta's Board remains at eight directors.
