BASF has appointed Jerry Lebold as senior vice president and general manager at the company’s largest North American manufacturing site in Geismar.
Lebold is now leading the operations of 27 plants at the Geismar facility, marking his return to the facility. He replaces Tom Yura, who left the company.
In 2012, Lebold joined BASF as part of the acquisition of Novolyte Technologies, where he was the global manufacturing director, with responsibilities in North America and China. He served as butanediol and derivatives production director in Geismar.
Lebold was promoted to vice president of performance chemicals operations in North America, based in Florham Park, New Jersey. In 2017, he moved into a role based in BASF’s global headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where he served as global operations vice president for the chemical catalysts business.
The Geismar facility employs nearly 2,000 employees and contractors and has undergone nearly $1 billion in new projects over the past decade.
It manufactures various products, including urethanes used in foam insulation, shoes, and furniture; chemical intermediates used in adhesives, coatings, plastics, water and gas treatment; and surfactants used in detergents.
Lebold is a native of Ohio where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in mathematics from Ohio University.
