The company said Charles E. “Chuck” Bunch, 50, has been named executive vice president, with responsibility for all coatings strategic business units. Bunch had been senior vice president, strategic planning and corporate services. He joined the company in 1979 and has held a series of financial and management positions, including vice president of Architectural Coatings. He was vice president of Fiber Glass when he was named to his current position in 1997. Pollock, who joined PPG in 1966 as a research engineer in the company’s glass business, has held a variety of legal, marketing and management positions. A lawyer and a chemical engineer, he has served as a patent attorney, director of Glass Research and Development, marketing director of Automotive Coatings Products, director of Automotive Coatings Products, and then vice president of Automotive Coatings Products. He assumed responsibility for PPG’s European coatings businesses in 1994, and in 1995 was named senior vice president of Coatings. He was elected an executive vice president in 1997. Pollock also was elected in October 1999 to a two-year term as chairman of the National Paint & Coatings Association.

“There’s no question PPG is a better company because of Kears Pollock, and there’s no question he has impacted our organization and the people who have had the privilege of working with him,” said Raymond W. LeBoeuf, PPG chairman and CEO. “Losing someone with Kears’ experience is never easy, but Chuck Bunch is an excellent choice to lead our coatings businesses.” LeBoeuf said Bunch has played a “pivotal role in the acquisition strategy that has resulted in our better mix of businesses.”

In a letter announcing his retirement, Pollock said he had decided it was a “good time to hand responsibilities to others.” He said the company’s coatings business had achieved much of the success he had envisioned for it in his quest to “build PPG into the premier coatings supplier in the world.”

“This is a good time for change, because 1999 was a year of positioning for the future,” he said.

PPG has significantly expanded its coatings business in the last several years, and has entered new markets such as packaging coatings while increasing its activities in other segments. The company completed its biggest acquisition ever last year with the purchase of ICI plc’s automotive-refinish and industrial-coatings businesses for approximately $684 million. In North America, PPG has boosted its architectural-coatings activities with the 1998 acquisition of Porter Paints and last year’s purchase of Wattyl Paint Corp.’s retail operations in the southeastern United States.