PPG Industries has announced that the successor to Gerald W. Gruber as vice president of science and technology will be James A. Trainham. Mr. Gruber will retire in March 2005 after nearly 34 years wi…
PPG Industries has announced that the successor to Gerald W. Gruber as vice president of science and technology will be James A. Trainham. Mr. Gruber will retire in March 2005 after nearly 34 years with PPG. Trainham joins PPG from Invista, Inc., formerly DuPont Textiles and Interiors, where he was chief technology officer from 2002 until its divestiture from DuPont earlier in 2004. He begins his new position 10 January 2005. After two years on the faculty at the University of South Carolina, Trainham joined DuPont as a research engineer in polymer products. His almost 25 years with DuPont included assignments in central research and development and in field units with responsibility for process and product technology. In 1992 he was appointed director of engineering research, and in 1996 global technology director for Dacron synthetic fibers. In 1999 he assumed responsibility as global technology director, Lycra synthetic fibers and Terathane polyether glycols. He was then appointed global technology director, apparel and textile sciences, before his most recent assignment. Trainham earned bachelor and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master“s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Gruber joined PPG in 1971 as a senior research chemist in industrial coatings at the company“s Allison Park, Pennsylvania, research center and became director, industrial coatings research, in 1983. He moved to Cleveland in 1988 to join PPG“s automotive coatings business as technical director. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1993 to lead chemicals research and development and assumed the role of vice president, coatings research and development, in 1995. He was appointed to his current position in 1998. Gruber earned a bachelor“s degree in chemistry from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and a doctorate in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University. Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries is a global supplier of coatings, glass and fiberglass and chemicals, with manufacturing facilities and equity affiliates in 23 countries. Sales were USD 8.8 billion in 2003.