Aluminum Association North America announces new leadership and board members

The Aluminum Association recently announced membership growth, additions to its Board of Directors and the election of its first woman chair. The association also announced the winner of the 2017 Marlan A. Boultinghouse Award, the highest award given by the North American industry. The announcements were made during the Aluminum Association’s recently concluded annual meeting – “Aluminum Moves America” – in Washington, DC.

“We’ve accomplished a lot in recent months and years by working together and speaking with one, cohesive voice as an industry,” said Michelle O’Neill, Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs & Sustainability at Alcoa and newly elected Chair of the Aluminum Association. “This is a pivotal point for American manufacturing in general and aluminum specifically. We’re facing some headwinds, but we also have some incredible opportunities ahead of us that will strengthen the industry.”

The association honoured Mark Eliopulos, Corporate Director of Health & Safety for Kaiser Aluminum, as the 18th recipient of the Marlan T. Boultinghouse Award for service to the North American aluminum industry. For four decades, Eliopulos has been a leading voice in the advancement of safety culture within Kaiser Aluminum and the broader aluminum industry. He has volunteered his time to train personnel for more than 15 years through various workshops and training programs and provided expertise in shaping industry best practices as an editor of Guidelines for Handling Molten Aluminum.

The Boultinghouse is the highest award given by the North American industry and honours those who have not only had distinguished careers within a member company, but also have provided their talents to improve the broader industry.

Michelle O’Neill, Senior Vice President of Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs & Sustainability at Alcoa, was elected as Aluminum Association Chair, becoming the first woman in the association’s 84-year history to hold the position. She replaces Garney Scott, President & CEO of Scepter, Inc., following a two-year term.

The Aluminum Association welcomed two new member companies, bringing the total membership to 114 companies. The new member companies include Impressions Technologies and Kripke Enterprises.

The Aluminum Association Board of Directors is comprised of a number of top executives from a wide cross-section of the aluminum industry. The board volunteers its time to provide strategic guidance and direction to the organization – setting goals, priorities and action items to best serve the interests of the entire industry.

New members named to the Board of Directors Class of 2020 were: 

• Ken Lane, President of Reynolds
• Lee McCarter, CEO of JW Aluminum

“With the addition of these new board members and leadership team, the Aluminum Association is strengthening its representation of the entire industry value chain,” added Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “We’re proud to represent more than 161,000 direct manufacturing jobs right here in the U.S.”