Warren Huang to retire as president of Afton Chemical; Robert Shama to assume presidency in January

NewMarket Corp., based in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., announced the appointment of Robert A. Shama as president of Afton Chemical Corp., replacing Warren Huang who will retire on April 1, 2013. Shama, who is currently Afton’s senior vice president, North America, has more than 32 years of chemical industry experience, including 21 years with Afton Chemical. He has run Afton’s North American business for 12 years, and he also currently serves as Afton’s chief marketing officer, leading Afton’s global marketing activities. Shama has had extensive experience in sales, marketing, manufacturing and product development. After an orderly transition period, he will become president on January 1, 2013, at which time Huang will assume a senior advisory role.
Huang has been with the company for 32 years, and he has served in a number of areas of increasing responsibility over that period. Included in his roles were vice president of R&D, vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific and senior vice president of Fuel Additives.
Huang was instrumental in the creation of Afton Chemical in 2004. Afton Chemical, under his leadership, has seen its sales revenue grow by more than 175% during this period, exceeding US$2 billion for the first time in 2011.
Teddy Gottwald, CEO of NewMarket, commented, “I have had the pleasure of working with Warren for more than 20 years. He has excelled in every role he has held. As the only president Afton Chemical has had, his mark is all over Afton. In addition to driving geographic and product line expansion through our Customer Intimacy model, Warren has developed a strong team of leaders at all levels in the company, assuring our continued success. We will miss his outstanding leadership, but his legacy will live on in the hands of an experienced and capable leadership team. We all wish him well in his retirement.”
NewMarket Corp., through its subsidiaries, Afton Chemical Corp. and Ethyl Corp., develops, manufactures, blends and delivers chemical additives that enhance the performance of petroleum products.