Houghton appoints new executive to lead transportation segment

Houghton International Inc., Valley Forge, Va., recently announced the appointment of Kevin Smith to the positions of senior vice president of Houghton International and president of the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and global automotive and aerospace markets.

Effective Feb. 1, Smith is based in the company's Manchester, U.K. office, and reports to Houghton International CEO Mike Shannon. Smith will assume responsibility for the general management of Houghton's EMEA region and the global leadership of Houghton specialty product lines for the major transportation industry segments, including automotive and aerospace. He also becomes a member of Houghton's executive committee.

"Kevin brings to Houghton over 30 years of commercial and general management experience in global industrial, specialty chemical and consulting businesses," said Shannon. "His broad leadership experience is essential to supporting our ambitious plans to accelerate growth in EMEA and expand our metalworking fluids business with global transportation industries."

Prior to joining Houghton, Smith held the position of chief executive officer, EMEA for Arysta Lifescience, a $1.6 billion global specialty crop protection firm, where he led the region to strong growth in revenue and profitability through acquisition, sales execution, commercial discipline and product development. Prior to Arysta, Smith held the executive position of group managing director, Europe for Sun Chemical, the $3.8 billion number one producer of industrial printing inks and pigments in the global market, where he also increased the organization’s revenues and profitability.

Most recently, he held a 2-year advisory role supporting private equity investments in specialty chemical businesses both in Western Europe and globally. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in French from Leeds University and an MBA from London Business School.