J&L Specialty Steel Inc. has appointed Joseph K. Kusic to the position of President and CEO, effective 1 February 2002. Mr Kusic succeeds Jacques Chabanier who has been appointed Senior Executive Vice President for Arcelor (Luxembourg). Mr Chabanier will be responsible for purchasing, research and development, information technology, e-commerce and global alliances. Mr Kusic, 53, currently Sr Vice President – Operations for J&L, joined the company in 1999. Previously, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Washington Steel Corp.
A steel industry veteran, Mr Kusic began his career in 1971 as Project Engineer for Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. and was later promoted to General Foreman of the Hot Strip Mill Mechanical Maintenance Dept. He then joined Washington Steel in 1978, and in 1992 he was appointed Vice President – Operations and subsequently Vice President and General Manager.
Succeeding Mr Kusic as Sr Vice President – Operations is Thierry Bernard, who will join the company on 15 February 2002.
Mr Bernard, 41, is currently Vice President at Sollac Lorraine, a Usinor Steel facility in France, where he has been in charge of business improvement projects. Before joining Usinor, Mr Bernard was employed for 6 years as President and CEO for Carr Lowrey Glass Co., Baltimore. From 1989 to 1994,he was employed as Division Director in charge of production for Saint Gobain, Paris, France.