Frank Bozich to replace retiring Chris Pappas as Trinseo CEO

BERWYN Pa.—The baton is about to be passed at materials maker Trinseo.

Frank Bozich will replace Chris Pappas as president and CEO of Berwyn-based Trinseo on March 4. Pappas has held those roles since 2010 and will transition to the role of special adviser to the CEO, officials said in a Jan. 30 news release.

Bozich joins Trinseo from SI Group, a Schenectady, N.Y.-based specialty chemicals firm where he had served as CEO since 2013. He has previous industry experience with BASF, Engelhard and Rohm & Haas.

In the release, Trinseo Chairman Stephen Zide said that Bozich "is an accomplished CEO known for his strong personal leadership and track record of driving business growth and corporate transformation."

Zide also thanked Pappas for "his nearly nine years of exemplary leadership," noting that that Pappas "was the principal architect of Trinseo's culture and strategy."

Pappas commented in the release that "In the time I've gotten to know (Bozich), I've been impressed with his knowledge of our industry and his strong leadership capabilities."

Prior to joining Trinseo, Pappas held executive roles at Nova Chemicals and DuPont. He was Nova's president and CEO from 2009-10. Pappas began his career with Dow Chemical in 1978.

Pappas is leaving Trinseo on a high note. In November, he was named 2018's top CEO among mid-cap publicly traded chemical companies for 2018 by Institutional Investor magazine. That award was based on voting from investors and sell-side research analysts.

In 2017, Pappas received the Leadership Award for Outstanding Corporate Reinvention from the New York section of the American Chemical Society. Trinseo officials said that award stemmed from Pappas's "visionary leadership, focus on safety and technology, financial discipline, and for Trinseo's growth, in which the company tripled in value between 2014 and 2017."

Trinseo employs 2,200 at 16 sites worldwide and had sales of $4.4 billion in 2017.