New Leader Will Focus on Advocacy, Climate Change and Enhancing Global Competitive Positioning of the North American Steel Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today announced the selection of Thomas J. Gibson as the association’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Currently Senior Vice President of Advocacy for the American Chemistry Council (ACC), Gibson will assume his new responsibilities on September 1.

Gibson will succeed AISI President and CEO Andrew G. Sharkey, III, who has announced his retirement after leading the Institute over the past 15 years and following a distinguished 30-year career leading steel-related trade associations.

Keith E. Busse, Chairman, AISI Board of Directors and Chairman and CEO, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and Ward J. Timken, Jr., Chairman of the Search Committee and Chairman, The Timken Company, together issued the announcement of Gibson’s appointment.

“Tom brings an impressive record of achievement in government service and industry advocacy that will equip him to lead a strong, policy-focused AISI going forward,” Busse said in a letter to AISI’s Board of Directors. “With his leadership experience at ACC and as the top government affairs officer for the Portland Cement Association, Tom will effectively spearhead AISI’s advocacy efforts on critical policy issues, such as access to affordable energy, climate change, trade and pro-manufacturing policies.”

Timken praised Gibson’s credentials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he served as Chief of Staff to Administrators Christine Todd Whitman and Michael Leavitt, and with the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “Tom’s strong Washington background will enhance the steel industry’s commitment to advance a technology-driven, global sectoral approach to climate change. We look forward to the insights Tom brings from his diverse government and industry background to lead the industry in its commitment to a sustainable future.”

“I am proud to be joining the institute at this critical time and appreciate the opportunity to build on Andy's record of accomplishment. The North American steel industry has a tremendous record of innovation and achievement. I look forward to bringing that story to decision makers at all levels of government as we advance our advocacy agenda,” Gibson said.

Over his years at ACC and PCA – which, like AISI, both represent energy-intensive member companies -- Gibson has established a track record of achieving legislative objectives working with both Democrats and Republicans. At ACC, he led the chemical industry’s global, federal and state advocacy efforts and has represented the Association before government and media.

At PCA, he led efforts to increase the cement industry’s visibility and clout in Washington, including spearheading industry efforts on climate change and successfully advocating for the cement industry’s inclusion in the Asia Pacific Partnership.

As Chief of Staff to Administrators Whitman and Leavitt, Gibson directed and coordinated the activities of EPA’s 12 program offices and 10 regional offices, serving as the Administrator’s day-to-day manager for the 17,000 employee, $8 billion Agency. While serving as Majority Deputy Staff Director to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, his most significant legislative accomplishment was in leading the Senate effort on the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2000 that included the $8 billion Everglades Restoration Bill.

Prior to that, Gibson served as the Congressional Liaison Specialist for the EPA, representing the Agency on Capitol Hill on issues diverse as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund, energy policy, global climate change and the Clean Air Act. Before that, he worked for Raytheon Company, first as a naval architect for the Systems Engineering Laboratory and then as a program manager for the Submarine Systems Directorate.

Gibson is a United States Naval Academy graduate with a Masters Degree from the University of Rhode Island and a Juris Doctor Degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Sheila. They have two college-age children.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. AISI plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 28 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent over 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.

Source: American Iron and Steel Institute, July 10, 2008