J. Erik Fyrwald to be President and Chief Executive Officer of Univar

24-04-2012: Univar Inc. announced that J. Erik (Erik) Fyrwald will join Univar as president and chief executive officer effective May 7. Fyrwald, age 52, is currently president of Ecolab  a global provider of water, hygiene and energy technologies that merged with Nalco in December 2011. Fyrwald will also become a member of Univar’s board of directors.

As a result of the addition of Fyrwald to the executive team, Univar’s current President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John J. Zillmer will assume the position of executive chairman of Univar and its board of directors, succeeding William S. Stavropoulos, who will move to the role of lead director. As executive chairman, Zillmer will continue to focus on leadership development, corporate strategy, and the company’s global growth initiatives.

Fyrwald brings extensive global experience to his new role with Univar. Prior to the merger with Ecolab in 2011, he was chairman and chief executive officer at Nalco. Before joining Nalco in 2008, Fyrwald held several executive positions during his 27-year career at DuPont, including group vice president of DuPont’s Agriculture and Nutrition division and vice president of DuPont’s Nutrition and Health business. Fyrwald earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Fyrwald serves as a Director of Eli Lilly and Company, the Society of Chemical Industry, the American Chemistry Council, the Chicago Public Education Fund and is a Trustee of the Field Museum of Chicago.

Univar’s current chairman of the board William S. Stavropoulos will remain on the board as lead director.