Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. announced that Alvaro Garcia-Tunon has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately, following Marsha Mishler's decision to step down as a director. The company also announced that Gregory Ledford will retire from the Allison board when his current term expires at the 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
Mr. Garcia-Tunon served as chief financial officer of Wabtec Corp., a leading supplier of technology-based products and services for rail, transit and other global industries, from March 2003 until his retirement from the company in 2013.
"We are pleased to welcome Alvaro as a new member of our board of directors," said Lawrence E. Dewey, chairman of the board of directors. "Consistent with our ongoing efforts to review and strengthen the composition of our board, the board's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee conducted a thorough process with recommendations from multiple sources, including stockholders and an independent executive search firm. Alvaro is an exceptional addition to our Board and his financial and capital allocation expertise, experience as a public company director and business perspectives will be of great value to Allison."
Garcia-Tunon will serve as a class II director with a term expiring at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and will also serve as a member of the board's Audit Committee.
Commenting on Ledford and Mishler, Dewey added, "Greg has served as a distinguished member of our Board for the past nine years and has provided exceptional leadership and valuable insights that contributed to Allison's growth and success. We also appreciate Marsha's contributions to the Board and her insights, particularly those relating to the dynamics in the off-highway energy end markets. We are grateful to both Greg and Marsha for their service and commitment to Allison and wish them all the best as we facilitate an orderly transition and add a different set of skills and background to the Board."
The board's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, with the assistance of a leading executive search firm, has initiated a search to identify a new independent director candidate with industrial operational expertise and executive experience to succeed Ledford.
Alvaro Garcia-Tunon
Alvaro Garcia-Tunon has served as a strategic adviser of Wabtec Corp. since his retirement in 2013. Prior to his retirement, Garcia-Tunon served as the chief financial officer of Wabtec Corp. since March 2003. Prior to that, he served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp., the predecessor to Wabtec Corp., since 1995, including treasurer, secretary and vice president of finance.
Garcia-Tunon has also held various leadership positions at two major public accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen and Co., where he provided overall tax, audit and financial consulting services. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the Bar Association of Virginia. Garcia-Tunon graduated from the College of William and Mary with a Juris Doctor degree and is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce.
Garcia-Tunon has served as a Member of the board of directors of Matthews International Corp. since October 2009 and currently serves as chairman of the audit and the board's special committees. He also served as a member of the executive, the Nominating and Corporate Governance, and the Compensation Committees. Garcia-Tunon has also served as a member of the board of directors of MSA Safety Inc. since December 2012, where he serves as a member of the Audit, the Finance, and the Legal Committees. Additionally, Garcia-Tunon is on the board of the Senator John Heinz History Center and Pittsburgh CLO.
