Hubbell Inc. (Shelton, Conn.): Kevin Poyck, Rodd Ruland and Darrin Wegman are now group presidents for the Lighting, Construction and Energy, and Commercial and Industrial businesses in Hubbell’s Electrical Segment. Gary Amato will continue as executive V.P., Electrical Segment.
In these roles, the group presidents will have full responsibility for the operational and financial performance of the businesses included in each group, while Amato will provide oversight to the three group presidents to ensure a smooth and orderly transition, as well as facilitate strategic projects across the Electrical Segment. All four positions will report directly to David Nord, chairman, president and CEO.
Poyck, who will serve as group president, Hubbell Lighting, Greenville, S.C., joined Hubbell Lighting in 2005 as V.P. of engineering and has previous executive experience Maytag and Cooper Industries. He has a BA in electrical engineering from Clemson University and holds four U.S. patents related to automated system design.
Ruland will serve as group president, Hubbell Construction & Energy, Manchester, N.H. He was leading Burndy when Hubbell acquired the company in 2009. In addition to his executive post at Burndy, Ruland held senior positions at AMP, Tyco Electronics and FCI. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gettysburg College.
Wegman will serve as group president, Hubbell Commercial & Industrial, Shelton, Conn. He began his Hubbell career with GAI-Tronics in 2000 as controller and was most recently V.P. and general manager, Wiring Systems and Industrial Electrical. Prior to joining Hubbell, he worked for Salient 3 Communications and KPMG LLP. Wegman has a BA in accounting from Penn State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Eaton (Cleveland): The company’s board announced several senior leadership appointments in anticipation of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alexander “Sandy” Cutler’s retirement at the end of May 2016. The appointments are the result of the board’s multi-year succession management process to continue the evolution of Eaton’s strategy and performance capabilities and to sustain the company’s values-based culture. Craig Arnold, 55, has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Eaton and a member of the board of directors, effective Sept. 1. Arnold will be appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Eaton on June 1, 2016. Cutler, who has been Eaton’s chairman and chief executive officer since August 2000, will retire on May 31, 2016, having reached Eaton’s mandatory CEO retirement age of 65.
Arnold has been vice chairman, president and chief operating officer of the Industrial Sector since 2009, with additional leadership responsibility for the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. He joined Eaton in 2000 as senior vice president and group executive of the Fluid Power Group. Prior to that, Arnold held multiple senior leadership positions with General Electric in the United States, Europe and Asia. He has a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree from California State University.
The board also announced that Richard Fearon has been appointed a member of Eaton’s board of directors, effective Sept. 1. He will continue to serve as chief financial and planning officer, a position he has held since 2002, and as vice chairman of Eaton. In other personnel news at the company, Eaton said that, in keeping with his long-time personal plans, Thomas Gross, vice chairman, president and COO of the Electrical Sector, will retire from the company Aug. 31, and that Revathi Advaithi, currently president, Electrical Americas region, has been appointed COO, Electrical Sector, succeeding Gross, effective Sept. 1. She will also have corporate responsibility for the EMEA region.
And in a related move at the company, Uday Yadav, currently president, Aerospace Group, has been appointed COO, Industrial Sector, succeeding Arnold, effective Sept. 1. He will also have corporate responsibility for the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. Yadav joined Eaton in 1994 and has served as executive vice president, Eaton Business System, president of the Asia Pacific region for the Eaton Hydraulics Group, and vice president, Supply Chain Management of the Fluid Power Group, director and general manager of Eaton’s Global Hose Division and local managing director for Eaton in India. Prior to joining Eaton, Yadav worked with Lucas Engineering and Systems and Aeroquip Vickers. Yadav holds a double degree with honors in engineering and business from Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom.
General Cable Corporation (Highland Heights, Ky.): Michael McDonnell is now president, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, effective July 1. He was previously chairman, president and CEO at TPC Group, a $2.5 billion leading processor and producer of value-added products derived from petrochemicals. McDonnell will succeed Gregory Kenny, who has led the company since 2001 as president and CEO. Kenny will retire as of July 1, but will remain available to McDonnell and to the Board in an advisory capacity through year-end. John Welsh, III, will remain chairman of the board.
Before joining TPC Group, McDonnell, 58, was president, CEO and executive director of Pregis Corp., a global specialty packaging and hospital supply products company. He holds a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Penn State University, a masters in economics from the University of Massachusetts, and completed the general management program at Harvard Business School.