MUNICH—Wacker Chemie A.G. soon will have new management with a familiar face for its U.S. subsidiary, Wacker Chemical Corp.
The former head of the company's global corporate research department, Christoph Kowitz, will take over as president and CEO of the Michigan-based Wacker branch, effective May 1.
Kowitz succeeds David Wilhoit, who is retiring after heading Wacker's North and Central American business since 2015.
"I'm looking forward to my new job in the U.S.," Kowitz said.
Kowitz is a chemist who began as a senior manager for Wacker Silicones. WCC has sites in Adrian and Ann Arbor, with the latter as its headquarters and both located in Michigan.
"The U.S. is and will remain one of Wacker's most important markets," Kowitz said. "With our products from all business divisions, we are ideally positioned to support the climate-neutral transformation of U.S. industry with innovative solutions."
Kowitz said the U.S. is driving development with several investment programs.
"My aim is to make the best possible use of these opportunities for our growth," he said.
Kowitz began his professional career as a product developer at BASF A.G. in Ludwigshafen in 1996. He also has worked as a management consultant for McKinsey in Asia and Europe.
He began at Wacker in 2013.
WCC was founded in 1965 and includes the Andes region of South America, in addition to North and Central America.
Administration, marketing and sales, and several technical competence centers for the health care, pharmaceutical, construction, automotive and food industries are located in Ann Arbor, which also is home to the Wacker Academy.
WCC has a staff of about 1,000.
