The Timken Company’s Board of Directors has named Richard G. Kyle as president and CEO of the company, effective immediately. The board also elected John M. Timken, Jr. as the chairman at annual meeting of shareholders.
Kyle replaces James W. Griffith, who became president of Timken in 1999 and CEO in 2002. Griffith is retiring from the company this year and did not stand for re-election as a director. He will remain with the company through June 2014 to assist with the leadership transition and oversee the spinoff of TimkenSteel Corporation as an independent publicly traded entity.
John Timken’s role as non-executive chairman of the board is a change to Timken corporate governance. Ward J. “Tim” Timken, Jr., who had been executive chairman since 2005, will serve as chairman, CEO and president of the new TimkenSteel Corporation, and will remain a director on the Timken board.
The company also announced that shareholders elected 11 directors to new one-year terms. Shareholders also supported the company’s 2013 “Say-on-Pay” vote, ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young as independent auditor and voted against a shareholder proposal requiring that the chair be an independent member of the board.
