Graham Packaging today announced the appointment of RobertPyle as its new president and chief executive officer. In this role, Pyleassumes day-to-day leadership of Graham, guiding the company in its ongoingmission of profitable growth and creating sustainable packaging solutions. Pylejoins Graham today, Aug. 2, and is succeeding interim CEO Doug Owenby, who willreturn to his role as chief operating officer of Graham. Owenby served in theinterim after former Graham Packaging CEO, Michael King, left in March 2021 tobecome CEO of Graham’s sister company, Pactiv Evergreen.
With more than 30years of experience, Pyle has a demonstrated track record of success leadinginnovation and transformation across the global automotive industry. He mostrecently served as executive vice president of Dana and president of LightVehicle Drive Systems, Dana’s largest business. Pyle has held various otherleadership roles in the automotive industry, including president of AsiaPacific at Dana, general manager at Yanfeng Visteon – both based in Shanghai,China – and at ASIMCO Technologies headquartered in Beijing. Pyle began hiscareer at Ford Motor Company, and later Visteon, holding roles with increasingresponsibility in finance, sales operations, product development, manufacturingand general management.
“GrahamPackaging is a well-known, established global company with a strongsustainability focus, an impressive list of blue-chip customers and exciting,high-volume operations,” said Pyle. “The packaging industry has many parallelsto the automotive industry, where meeting customers’ evolving needs andensuring that products meet the increasing demands of today’s consumers arecritical for success. I look forward to leading Graham in maximizing its globalgrowth opportunities while continuing to create innovative packaging solutionsdriving a more sustainable future.”
“Bob is aparticularly strong match for Graham strategically as we pivot from a primaryfocus on waste elimination to a stronger emphasis on growth,” said Owenby. “Bobhas consistently demonstrated the ability to lead large organizations throughhighly successful operational and commercial transformations, to achieveimpressive growth in both revenue and profitability. We welcome Bob and areexcited about the extensive knowledge and experience he brings to Graham.”
Pyle earned abachelor’s degree in industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University andan MBA in finance from the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business.
