Lampe nominated for Bridgestone board

TOKYO (Feb. 22)—John T. Lampe, chairman, president and CEO of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., has been nominated for a seat on the board of parent Bridgestone Corp., the first non-Japanese ever nominated for a seat. His appointment is subject to shareholder approval at Bridgestone´s annual meeting next month. Lampe, 53, replaced Masatoshi Ono as head of Bridgestone/Firestone in October, after Ono resigned in the wake of the Firestone P-metric light truck tire recall. Ono had a seat on the board, and the top executive of Bridgestone/Firestone has been on the board since its formation. Lampe joined Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in 1973 as an international sales trainee at a Firestone retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio. He stayed with the company after Bridgestone bought out Firestone in 1988, and had advanced to the position of vice president of Bridgestone/Firestone and president of two of the firm´s primary sales companies.