Fred E. Festa

Fred Festa is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of W. R. Grace & Co. He is a seasoned executive with leadership experiences at Fortune 100 companies as well as start-up/venture businesses.

Fred joined Grace as President and Chief Operating Officer in November 2003 and assumed the CEO responsibilities in June 2005, ultimately being named Chairman of the Board, effective January 1, 2008.

Since his arrival at Grace, the company’s revenues have increased from $1.9 billion (in 2003) to $3.3 billion (in 2008). Fred is a strong believer in Six Sigma and Lean training, and has spearheaded intensified productivity efforts at Grace, which delivered about $300 million in cost reductions, revenue enhancements, improved cash flow and cost/capital avoidance in 2008. He helped create the Grace Research Council to oversee greater R&D collaboration, generating an active innovation pipeline. Products introduced in the past five years delivered around 35% of Grace’s annual revenues in 2008.

Fred came to Grace from Morgenthaler Private Equity Partners, an $850 million venture/buy out firm focused on mid-market industrial build ups, where he was a partner since November 2002.

From 2000 to 2002, Fred was President and CEO of ICG Commerce, a 450-person, privately held company offering online procurement services. During his tenure, he grew revenues nine-fold, secured capital financing in the private markets and built-out the company's offering in Europe through the acquisition of Accenture's EP Value groups in the United Kingdom and Germany.

His strong knowledge of manufacturing was established during a seven-year tenure from 1993 to 2000 at AlliedSignal, Inc. (now Honeywell). He worked at the company’s specialty chemical, polymer, chemical intermediaries and fibers businesses in a series of increasingly responsible positions in general management, business development and finance. Most recently, he served as Vice President and General Manager of AlliedSignal's performance fibers business from 1998 to 2000. While in this position, Fred refocused the portfolio that sold to the automobile, industrial and textile sectors through a series of strategic moves which ultimately improved revenues and operating margins.

Fred began his career at General Electric (GE), where he spent 12 years in financial management positions at five of the company’s business units. While there, he completed GE's Financial Management Training Program and its benchmark General Management Course.

Fred graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from SUNY (State University of New York) Oswego. He became an independent director of NVR, one of the largest home builders in the United States, in 2008.

Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and other products to petroleum refiners; catalysts for the manufacture of plastics; silica-based engineered and specialty materials for a wide range of industrial applications; sealants and coatings for food and beverage packaging, and specialty chemicals, additives and building materials for commercial and residential construction. Founded in 1854, Grace has operations in over 40 countries.

October 2009
Corporate Communications
W. R. Grace & Co.
7500 Grace Drive
Columbia, MD 21044
+1 410.531.4000