Board of Directors

Director Biographies

 

Paul E. Morrisroe has served as Chairman of Pilot Chemical Company since 2000.  From 2000 until 2015 he served as CEO as well. Paul started at Pilot Chemical in 1972 as a Plant Engineer at the Santa Fe Springs, California, plant. From 1973 to 1976 he served as a Project Engineer at the Avenel, New Jersey, plant. From 1976 to 1981 he served as Vice President of Manufacturing. In 1981 Paul started a seven-year term as General Manager of the eastern division of Pilot. He became president of Pilot in 1988 following the death of his father, John Morrisroe.

Paul received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, an MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and an MS in Business Policy from Columbia University in New York City.

 

 

John R.Brantley joined Pilot Chemical’s Board of Directors in July 2018. John is a partner in the Houston office of the international law firm Bracewell LLP, where he has practiced since 1977. John provides mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate governance advice to public and private companies operating in the United States and internationally. Mr. Brantley represents energy, chemical, financial services, technology, and investment banking firms. He has served two terms on the firm’s management committee and as chair of the firm’s corporate and securities practice and its international practice, where he supervised the firm’s expansions in London, Kazakhstan and Dubai.

John serves on the board of trustees of Schreiner University, and on the advisory boards of the Bilateral US Arab Chamber of Commerce and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, and has served on the advisory board of the Tri-Cities Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He holds a B. B. A. in Economics (high honors) and a J.D. from St. Mary’s University, where he served as executive director of the St. Mary’s Law Journal.

 

 

Pamela R. Butcher joined Pilot Chemical as President and COO in 2010 and later became the CEO, from which she retired in January 2021. She joined the company’s board of directors in 2016, and currently serves as special advisor to the Chairman of Pilot. On July 21, 2023, she was elected to the board of directors for Arch Resources, Inc. She also continues her board service with J.M. Huber Corporation, serving on both the Corporate Governance and Nominating and the Compensation and Human Capital committees. She previously served on the boards of publicly held PDC Energy Inc. and Trecora Resources, as well as private equity held Gruden Topco Holdings/Quality Distribution, Inc., helping lead all three organizations through their successful acquisitions by other enterprises.

Prior to joining Pilot, she had a successful 29-year career with The Dow Chemical Company (now Dow, Inc.), where she held a variety of corporate and business executive leadership positions and was also a distinguished recipient of Dow’s prestigious Genesis Award for people leadership. Pam is the current president of the Rogers Family Foundation and previously served as a past president of the Board of Trustees for the Chemical Educational Foundation. Her past board service also includes engagements with the American Cleaning Institute, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and the regional advisory board of US Bank.

Pam holds a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy and a Master of Science Degree from Purdue University. She also is a graduate of the Northwestern University Marketing Executive program and has participated in the Prince of Wales Sustainability Conference and the Asian Master Class on Asian Business. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has completed the Director Professionalism Class.

 

 

James J. Hohman joined Pilot Chemical Company’s Board of Directors in 2015. Prior to that, he served as corporate Senior Vice President of OMNOVA Solutions Inc. and as President of OMNOVA’s Performance Chemicals business segment until his retirement in October 2014. He previously served as Vice President of the Paper Chemicals business of OMNOVA’s former parent company, GenCorp, and earlier as GenCorp’s Director of Strategic Business Development for the Specialty Polymers business segment. He also held numerous key general management, business and marketing positions with BP Chemicals and B. F. Goodrich.

Jim earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Honors Chemistry from The Ohio State University and his MBA from the University of Louisville. While at OMNOVA, he served as a member of the Corporate Visiting Committee of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio; the Strategic Review Executive Taskforce of the American Chemistry Council; and the Advisory Board of The Ohio State University’s College of Math and Physical Sciences. From 2002 to 2010, Jim also served as a founding board member for RohmNova, a joint venture company owned jointly by OMNOVA Solutions and Rohm & Haas Corporation. He currently serves on the board of Green Biologics, a renewable specialty chemicals business headquartered in Abingdon, UK, and serves as a Senior Advisor of Arsenal Capital. Until recently, he also served as a director on the board of Peach State Labs, one of the specialty chemical investments owned by Arsenal Capital.

 

 

David G. Ligon joined Pilot Chemical Company’s Board of Directors in 2009. He has over 32 years of lending and advisory experience, working with growing middle-market and lower middle-market companies across the U.S. Prior to starting his own consulting and advisory practice in 2016, he most recently started and led the sponsored lending group at OneWest Bank (now CIT). His banking career started in 1985 at Bank of America, and his most recent positions include Managing Director – CIT;  EVP & Manager – OneWest Bank (acquired by CIT); SVP & Manager – US Bank; Managing Director – Emporia Capital;  SVP & Division Manager – Union Bank; and Regional Vice President – Wells Fargo Bank.

David graduated with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985 and has completed various bank training and continuing education courses at Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Union Bank, US Bank, OneWest Bank, and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), as well as executive education programs such as the joint Stanford/Harvard executive course in leading change and organizational renewal. He is also a member of the NACD and serves as a director of the Neighborhood Urban Family Center, a non-profit organization providing after-school education, support and development for children from urban Pasadena, California.

 

 

Sarah Mester joined Pilot Chemical’s Board of Directors in January of 2019. She serves as Director of Corporate Development for Pilot Chemical Company. Sarah joined Pilot in 2012 as the Regional Sales Manager for Latin America. In her current role, she oversees Pilot’s strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Prior to joining Pilot, Sarah worked for John A. Martin & Associates as a project engineer. She received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California and her Master of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. She holds Professional Engineer (PE) and Structural Engineer (SE) licenses in California.

 

 

Bartley Morrisroe joined Pilot Chemical’s Board of Directors in January of 2019. He serves as General Counsel and Corporate Communications Manager for Pilot Chemical Company. Prior to joining Pilot in 2013, Bartley worked for seven years in the editorial departments of various national magazines. He holds both a BS and an MS in Journalism from Northwestern University. He holds a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Ohio, New York and New Jersey.