PARKER TO HEAD DUPONT DACRON UNIT
Byline: S. Gray Maycumber
NEW YORK — Harry Parker has been named vice president and general manager of DuPont Dacron polyester, effective next Monday, succeeding Ned Jackson.
Jackson, 62, will retire in August and assist in the transition until then.
Parker has spent his entire 22-year career with DuPont in the fibers sector, 20 years in polyester and two in nylon. Since 1996, the 43-year-old executive has been global business director for polyester filament and before that spent two years as global business director for polyester staple. Earlier, he was global marketing director for polyester filament. He joined DuPont in 1976.
Jackson has held his current post for nearly 2 1/2 years, which is a long tenure for a top fibers executive at DuPont in the Nineties. He was vice president and general manager of DuPont Specialty Chemicals before that.
Parker’s appointment to a post in an area where he is experienced and well known is somewhat of a departure from DuPont’s recent strategy, which has seen executives moved from other and often very different business areas into fibers positions.
Addressing this, Parker said in a phone interview that he feels that his appointment “to this leadership position where I am well known sends a message that DuPont is very committed to the polyester business.”
He added that he “plans to continue to be very involved in industry activities and in promoting polyester in the U.S. market, continuing work done by Ned Jackson.”
For the future, Parker said, he felt the polyester staple joint venture with Mexico’s Alpek was a very good move, and “we will look for other opportunities to make our fiber business stronger.”
He said, “This could be other joint ventures or alliances.” He indicated some could come about in the next year.
Parker will report to Ed Van Wely, DuPont’s senior vice president responsible for the strategic direction of the company’s foundation businesses, which includes Dacron polyester and nylon. As reported, DuPont in April realigned its chemical and specialties businesses into three operations: foundation businesses, which consist of firmly established businesses that have evolved from the company’s core technological strengths; differentiated businesses, a stable of high-profit growth businesses with recognized market leadership that includes Lycra spandex, and life sciences, which DuPont said its sees as “the centerpiece” of its future.