Features
Kathy Buckman Gibson takes more active role in Buckman

Kathy Buckman Gibson has stepped away from her role as chairman of the board of Buckman to take the position of president and chief operating officer for Buckman International. Assuming the Chairman’s role will be Buckman board member Otto Heissenberger, Jr.

Buckman Gibson first joined Buckman Laboratories International, Inc. in 1993 as vice-president, legal and corporate secretary. In assuming the chairmanship of the parent company in 2000, she succeeded her father, Robert Buckman, as chairman of the company her grandfather, Stanley J. Buckman, created in 1945.

In the position of president and chief operating officer for Buckman International, Buckman Gibson’s focus will be on growing operational results, customer relationships and international reputation of Buckman as a global leader in the specialty chemical industry. Included in her area of focus is the implementation and execution of the global business’s strategic plan and the implementation of effective policies and procedures that move the company forward.

Within Buckman, she leads the company’s global BuckmanCares initiative with community relations, volunteerism and giving activities that impact some 100,000 people each year. Outside of Buckman, she has served as a board member of Buckeye Technologies, Inc.  and is a past Trustee of the TAPPI Foundation.

Otto Heissenberger, Jr., a Buckman board member since 2010, will assume the position of chairman of the board. Heissenberger has more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry. He retired in 2008 from Voith Paper, Inc. in Appleton, WI, where he served as president and CEO of the company’s North American business for six years. Heissenberger becomes the first chair of the board who is not a member of the Buckman family.

“This combination of Kathy in the International President and COO position, and Otto serving as board Chairman creates a strong leadership, operation, strategic and experience combination that no other company in our industry can match,” said Steven B. Buckman, CEO and president, Buckman.