Fred E. Festa
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
W. R. Grace & Co.
Fred E. Festa is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of W. R. Grace &
Co. He joined the company as president and chief operating officer in November 2003
and assumed the CEO responsibilities in June 2005. He is only the company's seventh
CEO since Grace was founded in 1854. Fred became Chairman of the Board on January
1, 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 offerings online procurement services. During his tenure, he grew revenues
from $5 million to $45 million and built-out the company's offering in Europe through
the acquisition of Accenture's EP Value groups in the United Kingdom and Germany.
He joined Allied Signal (now Honeywell) in 1993, where he held a series of increasingly
responsible positions in general management and finance, ultimately serving as vice
president and general manager of Allied Signal's performance fibers business from
1998 to 2000. Fred began his career at General Electric (GE), where he spent 12 years
in financial management positions. 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 is an outside director of Formed
Fiber Technologies, Inc., an established manufacturer of fabrics and fibers.
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. With annual sales of more than $3.1
billion, Grace has about 6,500 employees and operations in over 40 countries.
January 2008
Corporate Communications
W. R. Grace & Co.
7500 Grace Drive
Columbia, MD 21044
+1 410.531.4000