Richard M. Rompala (born 1947) is an American

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

currently on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the Olin Corporation. He was

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Valspar from February 1998 until his retirement in July 2005. He had previously served as both

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Valspar. Rompala's leadership is credited with significantly expanding Valspar's

international business International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or more ...

operations, where it had previously been a primarily

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n business.

Early life and education

Richard Rompala was born in 1947 to a

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family on

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's strongly

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an South Side. Rompala's steelworker father eventually moved the family to Ambridge, Pennsylvania. In 1964, Rompala went to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, earning bachelor's degrees in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

in 1969. He went on to

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

where he earned an MBA in 1975.

Management work

Rompala got his first management position at the Olin Corporation, running their flexible urethanes division. He left this position in 1979 to work for Victor Posner and eventually served as a senior vice president of operations at

Mueller Brass Mueller may refer to: People * Mueller (surname), a surname German in origin Places Antarctica * Mount Mueller (Antarctica) Australia * Mueller College, in Queensland * Mount Mueller (Victoria) *Mueller Park, in Western Australia * Mueller Rive ...

. In 1985, he went to work for

PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it is ...

starting as a vice president of

corporate development Corporate development refers to the planning and execution of strategies to meet organizational objectives. The kinds of activities falling under corporate development may include management team recruitment, phasing in or out of markets or produc ...

. He was eventually promoted to group vice president of chemicals and then to group vice president of

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

s and coatings. In 1993, PPG's

and

, Vincent Sarni was on the verge of retirement, and outside speculation suggested that Rompala was a serious contender to take his place. This, however, did not happen, and Rompala left PPG. In May 1994, Rompala was elected president of Valspar. On October 30, 1995, he assumed the position of

at Valspar, succeeding C. Angus Wurtele in that position. He went on to replace Wurtele as

in February 1998, with Wurtele staying on Valspar's board of directors. Rompala's contributions at Valspar enabled them to increase their overseas revenues from 3% in the mid-1990s to nearly 30% by 2004. Rompala accomplished this by opening

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

s in

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Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In 1998, Rompala went to work on the Olin Corporation's

, where he currently serves as the lead director and chair of the compensation committee. Rompala retired from Valspar as chairman in July 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rompala, Richard 1947 births American chief executives of manufacturing companies Living people Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Harvard Business School alumni PPG Industries people Date of birth missing (living people)