Neenah, Inc. announced that Sean T. Erwin and John F. McGovern will not stand for re-election when their terms expire in May 2019 and that Tony R. Thene has been appointed to its Board of Directors as an independent director effective February 1, 2019. Mr. Thene will be part of the class of directors whose term of office will expire at the 2019 annual meeting, when he will be nominated for election to a three-year term.

Mr. Thene currently serves as chief executive officer of Carpenter Technology Corporation, a leader in specialty alloy-based materials and process solutions. He began his career at Carpenter as Chief Financial Officer in 2013 and prior to that worked at Alcoa Inc. in various senior financial and accounting leadership positions.

“We are delighted to welcome Tony to our Board of Directors and look forward to his participation and contributions,” said John O’Donnell, chief executive officer. “Tony’s experience in specialty materials markets and strong financial background will serve Neenah well as we continue to grow and redefine the company. At the same time, we will greatly miss the guidance that Sean and Jack have contributed through the years. In particular, I’d like to recognize and thank Sean for his leadership, most recently as the chairman, but also as CEO during Neenah’s first seven years, which was an important part of our transformation from a North American pulp and paper company into a global specialty materials business.”

With the addition of Mr. Thene, Neenah’s board now consists of nine directors, eight of whom meet New York Stock Exchange standards for independence.

In connection with Sean T. Erwin’s notice to the Board that he will not stand for re-election in 2019, the Board appointed William M. Cook to serve as chairman of the Board, to be effective with the company’s 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.