Univar Names President and Chief Executive Officer
- Categories: Corporate
- 22 October 2009
Bellevue, Wash. – October 22, 2009 – Univar, a global leader specializing in the sales, marketing, application and safe, efficient handling of a wide range of chemicals and ingredients, today announced the appointment of John J. Zillmer as president and chief executive officer.
Gary Pruitt, non-executive chairman of the board, announced his plans to retire as chief executive officer last April. “We are very excited to welcome John to Univar,” said Pruitt. “We are confident that he will provide strong strategic and operational leadership to Univar.”
Zillmer joins Univar after serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Allied Waste Industries, Inc. from 2005 until it merged with Republic Services in December 2008. A Fortune 500 company and publicly traded on the NYSE, Allied was the second largest non-hazardous solid waste company in the United States with 2008 sales in excess of $6.5 billion.
“I am pleased to be part of a strong Univar team,” said Zillmer. “As we build on our current successes, we will be looking for more opportunities to execute our strategies and strengthen our leadership position in the marketplace.”
Prior to joining Allied Waste, Zillmer spent 30 years in the managed services industry, most recently at ARAMARK Corporation, a world-leading provider of food, uniform and support services. He served as president of the Food and Support Services group and executive vice president of ARAMARK Corporation until January 2004. As president of the Food and Support Services group, he was responsible for both domestic and international operations with revenues of $8 billion and 200,000 employees worldwide. During his 18-year career with ARAMARK, Zillmer held a number of senior management positions including president of the company’s International business and Business Services group.
Zillmer received an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University. He is currently on the board of directors at Reynolds American, Inc. and Ecolab, Inc.
Pruitt will assist during the transition and remains as Univar non-executive chairman of the board.
About Univar
Univar is one of the world’s leading independent distributors of industrial and specialty chemicals and related services. Univar provides its customer base, made up of 250,000 customers, with a full portfolio of products. Univar operates a network of approximately 170 distribution facilities throughout North America, Europe and China. In 2008, Univar reported sales of $9.4 billion. For more information, visit: http://www.univarcorp.com/.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Weber-Millstein
Univar Corporate Communications
T: 425-638-4911 F: 425 638 4963
karen.webermillstein@univarusa.com