PORT NECHES, Texas—The Lion Copolymer Holdings L.L.C. board of directors said Sept. 30 that Kho Irani will be president and CEO of the Lion Elastomers subsidiary effective Nov. 1.
Irani joins Lion after more than 17 years at ExxonMobil, where he held a variety of management positions, including roles as global marketing manager of EPDM and global tire technology manager.
"We are very pleased to have someone with Kho's broad experience in the polymer industry join Lion," said Thomas Wells, a Lion director involved in the search. "We are confident that Kho will provide the leadership required to allow Lion to continue to grow as a leader in the elastomers business."
David Ward, chief technology officer and vice president of research and development, had taken over as interim CEO in the transition of leadership.
"We want to thank Dr. David Ward for providing strong interim leadership during the transition," Wells said. "Dave will continue in his role as chief technology officer and vice president of research and development and as a key member of the Lion management team."
Irani, who holds a bachelor's in chemical engineering from Rice University of Houston, Texas, and an MBA from McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, said he looks forward to the opportunity to work with Lion.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for me to join an organization, which has always been viewed as a leader and innovator," Irani said. "I know many of the key people at Lion from my years in the industry and I look forward to working with the team."
Jesse Zeringue, Lion Elastomers' long-time president and CEO, stepped down after in late August, according to a statement released by the synthetic rubber producer.