RMA names interim president Charles Cannon to top position

Dr. Charles A. Cannon was has been named president and CEO of the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). He has served in that role on an interim basis since February.

“I am looking forward to working with RMA’s members to address the many challenging issues facing this industry,” Cannon says. “This is a unique and exhilarating opportunity for me and I am thrilled at the prospect of continuing to work with an industry with such a long and distinguished history.”

“Next January, a new administration in Washington will present new challenges and new opportunities. We are adamant in our belief that the tire and rubber industry needs to be prepared for January 2009 and the days and months that follow,” says James MacMaster, chairman of the RMA board of directors. “For that reason, the RMA executive committee is in agreement that Charlie Cannon is clearly the right person to be the RMA CEO.”

Cannon got his start in Washington on the staff of the House Appropriations Committee followed by several years with United Technologies, Washington, D.C. office. He has managed Cannon Consultants, Inc., for the past 20 years, serving such diverse clients as Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Audubon Society and the California Energy Commission.

He also has served as CEO for Land Mine Detection Systems, Inc., was co-founder and vice president for the New Product Development Consortium, a venture capital project, and he was executive vice president of the Composting Council and the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation.

Cannon earned his PhD from Stanford University, an MA from Rice University and a BA from Columbia University.

“On behalf of RMA’s executive committee, let me say how excited we are over the prospect of Charlie Cannon leading the RMA as our CEO,” MacMaster says. “We believe that his leadership will help us build a stronger and more vibrant RMA.”

For more information, visit www.rma.org.