27 Influential Leaders in Abrasives Manufacturing

Last updated: June 2026

The leaders on this list do not run companies that appear in consumer headlines. They run the organisations that produce the grinding wheels, fused minerals, refractories, industrial ceramics, and specialty minerals that make virtually every manufactured product possible. Without their companies’ outputs, the steel that builds bridges cannot be ground to specification, the silicon wafers that power every digital device cannot be polished to atomic smoothness, and the furnaces that produce glass and cement cannot sustain the operating temperatures required. The abrasives and nonmetallic minerals manufacturing sector generates approximately $450 billion annually, with the abrasives market alone estimated at $65 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $125 billion by 2035.

The people compiled in this directory were selected on the basis of documented career impact in a current confirmed operating role. These are leaders whose results speak for themselves, people who have built organisations, launched transformative products, opened new production facilities, completed strategic acquisitions, or driven measurable growth across some of the world’s most technically demanding manufacturing sectors. Rather than recycling the same familiar names from general manufacturing roundups, I built this list to surface the people actually running the companies shaping this industry globally.

To book Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000-plus copies sold globally), to facilitate your next manufacturing leadership executive offsite or Working Genius workshop, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why Abrasives and Nonmetallic Minerals Manufacturing Matters

Abrasives are foundational to virtually every manufactured product on earth. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies the broader sector as NAICS 327, noting that it transforms mined or quarried nonmetallic minerals through processes of grinding, mixing, cutting, shaping, and honing, with heat frequently used and chemicals mixed to change composition for intended applications. The sector encompasses bonded and coated abrasives, superabrasives, fused minerals, refractories, industrial ceramics, specialty minerals including calcium carbonate and industrial lime, glass, and cement products.

The global abrasives market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 6 percent through 2035, driven by automotive manufacturing, semiconductor production, aerospace precision components, and infrastructure construction. Refractories underpin high-temperature industrial processes in steel, cement, glass, and non-ferrous metals production at every stage. Specialty minerals serve applications from paper filler and polymer modification to pharmaceutical coating and battery material precursors. The organisations these leaders run are not peripheral to modern industry. They are its material substrate.

How This List Was Compiled

Every person on this list holds a current confirmed operating role as chief executive, managing director, president, or executive board member at a company whose primary business falls within the abrasives, refractories, industrial ceramics, or specialty minerals manufacturing sectors. Selection was based on documented career impact, with evidence drawn from company annual reports, regulatory filings, industry publications, news coverage, and independent sector reporting, all verified against primary sources within the past twelve months. Online activity played no part in the selection. Each entry required at least two independent sources confirming the person-role-organisation pairing.

Category 1: Global Abrasives Leaders

The abrasives sector encompasses bonded abrasives, coated abrasives, superabrasives, abrasive grains, non-woven abrasive products, and related surface conditioning solutions. These eight entries cover the chief executives of the world’s most significant abrasives manufacturing organisations.

1. Benoit Bazin

Benoit Bazin became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain at the company’s General Meeting of June 2024, leading the world’s largest abrasives manufacturer within a global construction materials and high-performance materials group operating in more than 70 countries. Saint-Gobain’s abrasives division markets approximately 45,000 stock products under the Norton, Winter, Flexovit, Atlas, and Carborundum brands with around 15,000 order lines shipped daily, and is ranked the global market leader by volume and product breadth across bonded and coated abrasives.

Before becoming Chairman and CEO, Bazin served as Chief Operating Officer of Saint-Gobain and earlier as President and CEO of CertainTeed Corporation in the United States. Under the LEAD & GROW strategy he has advanced, Saint-Gobain has prioritised high-margin segments, reshaped its geographic footprint, and continued to invest in the abrasives and high-performance materials divisions that underpin the group’s technical differentiation.

2. Thomas Friess

Thomas Friess serves as Chief Executive Officer of Tyrolit Group, the Schwaz-based Austrian abrasives manufacturer with approximately €720 million in revenue and more than 4,000 employees across 29 production sites in 11 countries. Founded in 1919, Tyrolit produces conventional and superabrasive grinding wheels, cut-off wheels, diamond tools for the construction and stone industries, coated abrasives, and concrete sawing and drilling machinery, serving customers in metalworking, construction, and rail applications globally.

A significant strategic development under Friess was the acquisition of Acme Abrasives in October 2023, expanding Tyrolit’s US manufacturing footprint to seven plants and adding hot-pressed grinding wheels for the steel, foundry, and rail industries. Friess described the acquisition as furthering Tyrolit’s strategic direction of strengthening operational competitiveness in crucial sectors including steel and rail, building on a global economic base that supports continued portfolio expansion.

3. AJ Roshan-Rouz

Arjang Roshan-Rouz became Chief Executive Officer of Weiler Abrasives Group on 27 March 2023, selected by the company’s board following a comprehensive global search. The Pennsylvania-based manufacturer, with a heritage dating to 1879 and operating as a family-anchored business under Executive Chairman Chris Weiler, produces abrasives, power brushes, and maintenance products for surface conditioning across metalworking, construction, and industrial applications.

Before Weiler, Roshan-Rouz led 5N Plus, a publicly listed engineered materials company, through a strategic transformation from commodity materials toward high-value semiconductor and performance materials during his tenure as CEO from 2016 to 2021. Earlier, he held multiple senior vice president roles at Umicore, leading the global energy and surface technologies business from Brussels and, before that, the Asia Pacific business from Shanghai for six years. Hire Jonno White, host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast (230-plus episodes, listeners in 150-plus countries), to facilitate your manufacturing executive team offsite at jonno@consultclarity.org.

4. Stefan Sjöberg

Stefan Sjöberg serves as Chief Executive Officer of Mirka Ltd, the Jeppo, Finland-headquartered abrasives manufacturer that is part of the family-owned KWH Group. Mirka operates 18 subsidiaries across Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and Asia, employing approximately 1,200 people. The company pioneered dust-free sanding technology in the early 1990s and has built a global position as one of the largest coated and non-woven abrasives producers by volume.

Under Sjöberg, Mirka committed in late 2023 to a €25 million Circular Grain Manufacturing (CIGMA) facility in Jeppo, receiving €5.89 million in Recovery and Resilience Facility funding from Business Finland, creating more than 50 new jobs, and positioning Mirka as the first manufacturer to supply fully circular abrasives. Sjöberg described the initiative as introducing a completely new industry to Finland and as the first truly circular concept in the global abrasives market, using waste streams from production and end users to generate new ceramic and abrasive grains.

5. Olaf ter Jung

Olaf ter Jung became the sole Executive Board member of Klingspor AG in mid-2019, having joined the Haiger-based company in 1996 and progressed through sales management and marketing leadership over more than two decades. Klingspor AG produces more than 50,000 product items across coated abrasives, cutting-off wheels, grinding discs, abrasive mop discs, and diamond tools, operating 36 production and distribution locations globally with more than 2,800 employees. The company is consistently identified as one of the world’s top-five abrasives manufacturers by volume.

The global support and consulting infrastructure under ter Jung’s board oversight includes more than 460 field representatives, engineers, and trained technical specialists serving customer applications in metalworking, woodworking, and construction. Klingspor’s scale in standard abrasive products across Germany, Europe, and international markets reflects sustained commercial and operational investment over the period of ter Jung’s leadership.

6. Christoph Klingspor

Christoph Klingspor serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of KLINGSPOR Abrasives Inc., the Hickory, North Carolina-based US subsidiary of the Klingspor Group. A third-generation member of the founding family, Klingspor leads the North American manufacturing and distribution arm of a group whose German parent has been setting standards in abrasive technology for more than 125 years. The US subsidiary manufactures coated abrasives including sandpaper and bonded abrasives including grinding wheels and grinding discs for the American industrial market.

KLINGSPOR Abrasives Inc. brings the family’s precision manufacturing tradition to North American metalworking, fabrication, and woodworking customers. As a family-owned third-generation operation, Klingspor’s leadership represents a continuity of values and technical standards that distinguishes family-anchored abrasives manufacturers from large conglomerate-owned operations in the sector.

7. Jim Charmley

Jim Charmley was appointed Chief Executive Officer of VSM Abrasives Corp., the US subsidiary of Hannover-based Vereinigte Schmirgel- und Maschinen-Fabriken AG, in 2024. The parent company, VSM AG, celebrated its 160th anniversary in May 2024, manufacturing coated abrasives from its original Hannover location since 1864. VSM received the German Innovation Award 2025 for its XELERION structured fine abrasive, which enables finish grinding and ultra-fine polishing in a single step through a randomised grain structure, and was simultaneously nominated for the German Sustainability Award 2025.

Under the broader VSM global approach in which Charmley leads North American operations, the company centres its commercial strategy on deep application engineering partnerships with customers in metalworking and industrial surface finishing, positioning itself as a premium technical abrasives provider rather than a commodity supplier. The parent company’s commissioning of a dedicated Ceramic Grain Production Facility in Hannover in 2023 reflects ongoing investment in the materials science behind these customer partnerships.

8. Paulo Ferrari

Paulo Ferrari leads sia Abrasives Industries AG as Chief Executive Officer, heading the Frauenfeld, Switzerland-based flexible abrasives manufacturer as it reached its 150th anniversary in 2025. Founded in 1875 and part of the Bosch Group since 2008, sia Abrasives is recognised among the world’s top-three suppliers of innovative flexible abrasive systems and employs approximately 1,000 people in more than 80 countries. Ferrari leads the company as a specialist within the Bosch Power Tools division, maintaining sia’s focus on customised industrial surface treatment solutions.

The R&D investment supporting Ferrari’s technical agenda has been underpinned by the Bosch Group’s 12 percent increase in research and development spending in 2024. Under Ferrari, sia has pursued strategic expansion in high-growth markets including India and China, with the Asia-Pacific abrasives market valued at approximately $10 billion in 2024, providing a substantial commercial opportunity for the company’s specialist flexible abrasive systems.

Category 2: Refractories and High-Temperature Materials Leaders

Refractories are heat-resistant materials that line the furnaces, kilns, and reactors used in high-temperature industrial processes. The sector is fundamental to the production of steel, cement, glass, and non-ferrous metals.

9. Stefan Borgas

Stefan Borgas has been Chief Executive Officer of RHI Magnesita since 2019, leading the global leader in high-grade refractory products, systems, and solutions. Listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 250 constituent with a secondary listing in Vienna, RHI Magnesita generated revenue of €3,366 million in 2025 and employs approximately 20,000 people across 47 main production sites and eight recycling facilities serving the steel, cement, glass, and non-ferrous metals industries with products used in processes exceeding 1,200 degrees Celsius.

Reflecting on 2025 at year end, Borgas described the period as defined by surprise and resilience, with global conditions remaining unstable while the company advanced meaningfully on sustainability. Initiatives included the commissioning of a 2.2 megawatt photovoltaic installation in China saving approximately 2,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, expanded recycling operations, and the advancement of a green minerals programme designed to absorb 50,000 tonnes per year of CO2 from existing processes with its initial project.

10. Patrick André

Patrick André has been Chief Executive of Vesuvius plc since September 2017, leading the global leader in molten metal flow engineering from its London headquarters. Listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 250 constituent, Vesuvius generated revenues of approximately £1.8 billion in 2025 across more than 40 countries, serving the steel and foundry industries with customised refractories, flow control systems, robotics, digital services, and technical services for continuous casting and high-temperature metal processing.

André implemented a Value Creation Plan in 2024 and 2025 that involved European operations consolidation and the opening of two new manufacturing plants in India. In late 2024, Vesuvius acquired the Molten Metal Systems business from Morgan Advanced Materials for approximately £92.7 million, extending Vesuvius’s capabilities in sensor and robotics technologies for automated steelmaking. The acquisition reflects André’s strategy of converting technological leadership in refractories into a broader portfolio of automated, data-driven solutions for industrial customers.

11. Parmod Sagar

Parmod Sagar serves as Chairman, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer of RHI Magnesita India Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of the world’s largest refractory group, bringing approximately four decades in the refractory industry to the role. Sagar has served as President of the World Refractories Association, a recognition of his standing in global refractory industry governance. Sagar characterises the sector’s everyday importance by noting that steel, glass, mobile phone screens, stainless steel utensils, and industrial equipment all depend on refractories to withstand the extreme temperatures required in their production processes.

An early milestone in Sagar’s career was collaborating with Jindal Stainless in the early 1990s to develop India’s first Tundish three-plate refractory system, enabling domestic capability that had previously relied entirely on imported technology. He has described the arc of his career as witnessing the Indian refractory industry evolve from a position of limited recognition to one of growing national and global significance.

12. Damien Caby

Damien Caby became Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Advanced Materials plc on 1 July 2025, succeeding Pete Raby after a decade in the role. Morgan Advanced Materials, listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 250 constituent, manufactures advanced carbon and ceramic materials across thermal ceramics, performance carbon, and technical ceramics segments, generating approximately £997 million in revenue with 8,100 employees.

Before the chief executive role, Caby led Morgan’s Thermal Products Division, which covers thermal ceramics and molten metal systems products used in high-temperature industrial processing of metals, petrochemicals, cement, ceramics, and glass. He joined Morgan in 2022 following senior business leadership roles at BASF and Imerys. A significant portfolio action during the broader company leadership was the sale of Morgan’s Molten Metal Systems unit to Vesuvius for approximately $108.7 million in October 2025, sharpening the company’s focus on core advanced carbon and ceramics capabilities.

13. Anil Sönmez

Anil Sönmez serves as Chief Executive Officer of Almatis GmbH, the Frankfurt and Ludwigshafen-based market leader in specialty alumina products for high-performance refractory, ceramic, polishing, and specialty markets. Almatis, owned by OYAK since September 2015, operates seven manufacturing facilities across the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Japan, and India, offering the broadest specialty alumina product portfolio in the global industry from tabular aluminas and calcined aluminas through to polishing aluminas and calcium aluminate cements.

A landmark under Sönmez was the official opening of Almatis’s fully integrated tabular alumina facility in Falta, West Bengal, India, in November 2022, which he described to Iron and Steel Review as playing a key role in driving growth at Almatis globally by serving as a strategic production centre enabling reliable supply across regions. Almatis also launched new Extra Low Soda and Ultra Low Soda alumina series under Sönmez, targeting high-end technical ceramics applications where purity specification is critical.

Category 3: Specialty Minerals and Industrial Minerals Leaders

The specialty and industrial minerals sector produces functional minerals including calcium carbonate, industrial lime, specialty alumina, kaolin, talc, and a range of other processed nonmetallic minerals serving applications from paper and polymers to food, pharmaceuticals, and environmental remediation.

14. Alessandro Dazza

Alessandro Dazza has been Chief Executive Officer of Imerys since February 2020, leading the Paris-headquartered specialty minerals group that employs approximately 7,900 people across more than 230 industrial sites globally. Listed on Euronext Paris as part of the CAC Mid 60 index, Imerys produces specialty minerals spanning high-temperature solutions, filtration, and performance minerals applications for customers from process manufacturing through to consumer goods.

A transformative initiative Dazza has led is the EMILI lithium project in the Allier department of France, targeting annual output of approximately 34,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide from 2030 from what may be one of the world’s five largest hard-rock lithium reserves. The French state invested €50 million for a minority stake in the project in February 2026, with Dazza describing the state’s participation as an important recognition of the project’s industrial and strategic potential. French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Echaìssières project site in 2026, underscoring the national strategic importance of the venture.

15. Douglas Dietrich

Douglas Dietrich has been Chief Executive Officer of Minerals Technologies Inc. since December 2016 and Chairman of the Board since March 2021, leading the global specialty minerals company with operations in 34 countries and R&D facilities in 12 countries. MTI produces precipitated calcium carbonate, talc, quartz, kaolin, and refractory minerals serving customers in steel, construction, paper, polymers, and life sciences, maintaining a mine-to-market vertical integration model across its globally distributed production base.

Dietrich joined MTI in 2008 as Vice President of Corporate Development and Treasury, progressed to Chief Financial Officer in 2011, and became CEO in 2016, drawing on earlier roles at Alcoa in aluminium products and Latin America operations. Under his leadership MTI has developed its specialty minerals portfolio toward higher-value applications. In 2025, Dietrich was elected to the board of directors of Kennametal Inc., a peer advanced materials company, reflecting his standing in the industrial materials sector broadly.

16. Emanuele Mamino

Emanuele Mamino was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Omya Group, the Oftringen-headquartered Swiss industrial minerals company founded in 1884. Omya produces industrial minerals primarily as fillers and pigments derived from calcium carbonate and dolomite, serving the paper, polymers, building materials, food, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and environmental solutions markets with approximately 9,000 employees globally.

Under Mamino, Omya has continued its emphasis on the intersection of minerals and sustainable chemistry, including a joint initiative with Technip Energies to explore a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage project at Omya’s Orgon, France production site. In November 2025, Omya launched the Omya Specialty Materials business unit to consolidate global sales and distribution of specialty materials including pigments, binders, and additives under a single unified platform.

17. Marcos França

Marcos França serves as Chief Executive Officer of Lhoist Group, the Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve-headquartered Belgian company that has been family-owned since its founding in 1889. A global leader in lime, dolime, and minerals production with approximately 6,400 employees across more than 25 countries, Lhoist produces lime and mineral-based products for applications in steel production, environmental remediation, water treatment, flue gas treatment, agriculture, and construction.

Under França, Lhoist has advanced a Memorandum of Understanding with TotalEnergies to explore carbon capture and geological storage at the Réty, France lime production plant, with the joint initiative targeting CO2 emission reductions exceeding 600,000 tonnes annually. The scale of this decarbonisation initiative reflects the group’s engagement with industrial climate obligations as a core strategic priority alongside the continued development of advanced mineral and recycling solutions.

18. Sébastien Dossogne

Sébastien Dossogne serves as Chief Executive Officer of Carmeuse Group, the Louvain-la-Neuve-based Belgian company producing lime and limestone with revenues of approximately €2.5 billion and approximately 6,300 employees across facilities in Europe, North America, and Africa. Founded in 1860, Carmeuse produces high calcium lime, dolomitic lime, calcium hydroxide, and limestone for steel production, environmental remediation, chemical manufacturing, and construction applications.

The Carmeuse board chair Tim Van den Bossche was elected President of the European Lime Association in 2023, reflecting the company’s active role in shaping the policy and sustainability agenda for the European nonmetallic minerals manufacturing sector. The association connects lime and minerals producers across Europe on regulatory, technical, and sustainability matters with direct implications for industrial decarbonisation policy.

19. Timothy Byrne

Timothy Byrne serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of United States Lime & Minerals Inc., the Dallas-headquartered NASDAQ-listed manufacturer of lime and limestone products with facilities across Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, and other US states. The company produces quicklime, hydrated lime, limestone, and limestone sand primarily for steel production, construction, environmental remediation, and chemical applications, serving customers across the eastern and central United States.

Byrne reported solid 2024 financial results, maintaining consistent performance despite modest demand variation. A notable capital markets development under his tenure was the 5-for-1 stock split executed in July 2024, reflecting accumulated value creation and broadening trading access. Bring Jonno White in to facilitate your next executive offsite or Working Genius workshop at jonno@consultclarity.org.

Category 4: Advanced Materials and Technical Ceramics Leaders

This category covers the chief executives of advanced ceramics, specialty glass, and high-performance industrial materials companies whose businesses fall within the NAICS 327 nonmetallic mineral products sector or directly adjacent to it.

20. Wendell Weeks

Wendell Weeks has been Chief Executive Officer of Corning Incorporated since April 2005 and Chairman since April 2007, and added the presidency to his responsibilities in October 2025. Corning, headquartered in Corning, New York, specialises in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials technologies across display, telecommunications, automotive, mobile consumer electronics, and life sciences platforms. Weeks joined Corning in 1983 and has guided the company through more than four decades of transformation.

Among the most consequential developments of Weeks’s leadership was the commercialisation of Gorilla Glass for the original iPhone, responding to a specific product challenge and establishing a product category subsequently incorporated into billions of devices globally. In Q4 2024, Weeks reported 18 percent year-on-year core sales growth to $3.9 billion with core earnings per share growing 46 percent, reflecting the strength of Corning’s diversified specialty materials and ceramics platform.

21. Sridharan Rangarajan

Sridharan Rangarajan joined Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI) as Managing Director in 2025, leading the Chennai-based materials sciences engineering solutions company established in 1954. CUMI, part of the Murugappa Group and listed on both the NSE and BSE, employs more than 10,000 people globally across abrasives, electrominerals, ceramics, and refractories, generating consolidated revenue of approximately ₹4,834 crores for the financial year ending March 2025.

Under Rangarajan’s mandate, CUMI opened a new R&D centre in Chennai in January 2025 dedicated to next-generation abrasive materials development. The company operates across more than 50 countries with a product range exceeding 20,000 abrasive varieties in addition to its ceramics and refractories segments serving aerospace, automotive, construction, glass, and steel industries.

22. Nicolas Miègeville

Nicolas Miègeville was appointed Group Chief Technology Officer of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in June 2025, following five years as Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain Ceramics. Miègeville joined Saint-Gobain in 2002 and spent approximately a decade in plant leadership roles across Brazil, South Korea, and Egypt, before holding operational leadership roles within the abrasives activity from 2014 to 2019 including management of the Latin American abrasives business. As CEO of the Ceramics division from 2020 to 2025, Miègeville led the business Saint-Gobain describes as the global number one in thermal and mechanical applications for ceramics.

His elevation to Group CTO reflects accumulated technical and operational leadership depth across nearly 25 years within Saint-Gobain, spanning ceramics, abrasives, and multinational plant operations across four continents. The CTO role oversees technology strategy and innovation across the full Saint-Gobain group, including its abrasives and performance ceramics divisions.

23. Mark Rayfield

Mark Rayfield serves as Senior Vice President and CEO of Saint-Gobain North America, a role he has held since January 2020. He leads Saint-Gobain’s businesses across the US and Canada, encompassing the group’s construction products, high-performance materials, and abrasives operations in the region. Confirmed on Saint-Gobain’s executive committee page, Rayfield’s career within the group spans more than 25 years and has included Vice President of North American Abrasives, Vice President and General Manager of North American Abrasives and Super Abrasives, and President and CEO of CertainTeed Corporation.

Rayfield’s deep background in the abrasives division specifically, including his direct operational leadership of the North American abrasives and superabrasives business for several years, makes him one of the most experienced abrasives sector operating leaders in North America. His current responsibilities as regional CEO for Saint-Gobain in North America encompass a business that includes abrasives, flat glass, insulation, gypsum, and construction products.

Category 5: Minerals, Materials Science, and Precision Manufacturing Leaders

24. Sanjay Chowbey

Sanjay Chowbey was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Kennametal Inc. effective 1 June 2024, succeeding Christopher Rossi after nearly seven years. Kennametal, headquartered in Pittsburgh and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling, and wear-resistant solutions across aerospace and defence, earthworks, energy, general engineering, and transportation. Chowbey joined Kennametal in 2021 as President of the Metal Cutting segment, growing the customer base and expanding operating margins before his elevation to CEO.

In Chowbey’s first year as CEO, research and development spending as a percentage of sales reached its highest level in more than 25 years, reflecting his commitment to advancing Kennametal’s materials science and tooling innovation agenda. The Metal Cutting segment encompasses abrasive and cutting tool solutions foundational to precision manufacturing across a wide range of industrial sectors.

25. William Brown

William Brown has served as Chief Executive Officer of 3M Company since 1 May 2024 and was appointed Chairman of the Board from 1 March 2025. 3M, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, is consistently listed among the global leaders in abrasives manufacturing through its Cubitron precision-shaped grain abrasives brand and its extensive portfolio of bonded, coated, and non-woven abrasive products serving automotive, aerospace, electronics, and industrial manufacturing customers worldwide.

Brown joined 3M from L3Harris Technologies, where he had previously served as Chairman and CEO. In Q4 2024, 3M reported 18 percent year-on-year core sales growth to $3.9 billion with core earnings per share growing 46 percent. Brown has focused on operational excellence, aerospace and defence growth, and capital allocation discipline as the strategic priorities guiding the company’s transformation.

26. Camille Harrissart

Camille Harrissart was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain’s Latin America Region effective 1 July 2025, elevated from her prior role as CEO of Saint-Gobain Abrasives Latin America, which she held from 2022 based in São Paulo. Before her general management career, Harrissart spent seven years at The Boston Consulting Group and joined Saint-Gobain in 2016, progressing through Head of Strategy roles for the Construction Products business sector and for Europe.

In leading Saint-Gobain Abrasives Latin America from 2022, Harrissart managed a business spanning Brazil and other major Latin American economies within one of the fastest-growing regions for industrial manufacturing abrasives demand. Her elevation to regional CEO in July 2025 reflects the track record she built leading the abrasives division and her commercial and strategic knowledge of the Latin American industrial market.

27. Anne Williams

Anne Williams has served as President of Washington Mills, the North Grafton, Massachusetts-headquartered company established in 1868 as the first abrasive producer in the United States, building one of the most recognisable leadership legacies in North American fused minerals manufacturing. Washington Mills is the largest manufacturer of fused minerals and abrasive grains in North America, and the only producer on the continent producing brown fused alumina, white fused alumina, silicon carbide, and boron carbide crude ore from its own electric arc furnaces. The company operates multi-plant locations across the USA, Canada, the UK, and Norway.

Washington Mills under Williams’s leadership has maintained a product breadth that no other North American fused minerals supplier replicates, spanning standard abrasive grains through highly customised specialty electrofused minerals to pilot fusion development services for new material applications. The company’s fused materials serve hundreds of applications across refractories, ceramics, abrasive products, blasting media, thermal spray coatings, and semiconductor fabrication.

Notable Voices Worth Following

Any honest directory of this scope will leave out leaders who deserve recognition. The broader abrasives and nonmetallic minerals manufacturing sector includes many significant operating leaders at private or regional companies where English-language primary sources for entry-level verification are limited. Among the voices in the broader manufacturing and industrial materials space worth following, though not profiled in depth here, are the executive teams at Fujimi Incorporated (Japan’s leading precision abrasives manufacturer for semiconductor CMP applications), Noritake Co. Limited (Japan’s largest grinding and polishing tool manufacturer), and the leadership of Hermes Schleifmittel GmbH (co-founder of the SEAM European abrasives sustainability certification programme), whose contributions to the industry are significant but whose individual leadership details were not independently verifiable to the standard required for a full entry at time of compilation.

Common Mistakes in Manufacturing Leadership

The leaders profiled in this directory share a common challenge that goes far beyond product innovation or market share: building executive teams that can navigate extraordinary complexity without fragmenting. Abrasives and nonmetallic minerals manufacturing involves raw material sourcing volatility, energy-intensive production, precision engineering requirements, global customer relationships, and increasingly urgent decarbonisation mandates. Executive teams in these organisations frequently face the same dysfunction patterns that affect leadership teams across all sectors, just with higher stakes for failure.

One of the most common mistakes is confusing technical depth with strategic alignment. Many of the world’s best technical talent in abrasives chemistry or refractory engineering ends up in executive teams where their genius is misallocated, not because they lack ability but because they are spending their time on work that others could do better. When a Chief Technology Officer whose genius is in Invention is spending most of the week in Enablement activities, output suffers and frustration rises. The Working Genius framework, developed by Patrick Lencioni, gives manufacturing executive teams the vocabulary to diagnose exactly this dynamic and redesign how work is distributed.

A second common mistake is treating executive team building as something that happens at an annual offsite rather than as an ongoing operational priority. The organisations led by the people on this list operate in sectors where decisions made in Monday’s executive meeting have production implications by Thursday. Teams that cannot make decisions cleanly, that revisit agreed strategies, or that avoid the honest accountability conversations that produce real improvement will consistently underperform their technical potential.

A third mistake is underinvesting in leadership development for the layer of leadership just below the executive team. Plant managers, regional business unit heads, and divisional leaders in manufacturing organisations carry enormous operational weight. When they are not developed, not aligned, and not operating in their areas of strength, the organisation’s results reflect it at every level.

Hire Jonno White to facilitate your manufacturing leadership team’s next executive offsite, Working Genius workshop, or leadership development session. Jonno works with executive teams in corporates, schools, and nonprofits around the world, and international travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to start the conversation.

Implementation Guide: Building a High-Performing Manufacturing Leadership Team

The leaders on this list run organisations that have thrived through significant market cycles, technology shifts, and competitive pressure. Looking across their careers, several patterns emerge for any manufacturing executive team that wants to perform at the level these organisations do.

Start by naming the real work clearly. Manufacturing executive teams often have the right people in the wrong seats because the work itself has never been honestly described. What does your Chief Technology Officer actually spend most time on? What about your VP of Operations? When the work is mapped honestly and compared against the natural strengths of the people in those roles, misalignments that explain years of frustration become obvious in a single session.

Invest in the decision-making architecture of your team before the next major decision arrives. The organisations on this list that have made transformative acquisitions, opened major new facilities, or launched industry-defining products did not succeed because the decisions were individually brilliant. They succeeded because the teams making those decisions had the clarity of authority, the trust to surface dissenting views, and the commitment to execute once a direction was chosen. Teams that lack this architecture revisit every major decision and exhaust themselves doing it.

Treat talent development as a competitive advantage, not a cost. The specialty minerals and advanced ceramics sectors are experiencing significant competition for experienced technical and commercial talent. The organisations that consistently outperform their peers are those whose senior people actively develop the layer below them, not because it is mentioned in the annual performance review, but because the leaders understand their own legacy is the leaders they develop.

For a Working Genius workshop, executive team offsite, or leadership development programme specifically designed for your manufacturing leadership team, contact Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and author of Step Up or Step Out, at jonno@consultclarity.org. See also the guide to 

manufacturing leadership facilitators for a broader view of facilitation options for industrial leadership teams. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect, and many find that flying Jonno in costs significantly less than engaging high-profile local providers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential leaders in abrasives manufacturing globally?

The most significant current leaders in abrasives manufacturing globally include the CEOs of the sector’s largest companies: Benoit Bazin of Saint-Gobain (the world’s largest abrasives manufacturer), Thomas Friess of Tyrolit Group, Stefan Sjöberg of Mirka, and Olaf ter Jung of Klingspor AG, among others profiled in this directory. The sector is led by a mix of large multinational executives and family business leaders, with deep technical expertise and long tenures common across the group.

What is the difference between abrasives and refractories manufacturing?

Abrasives are materials used for grinding, cutting, polishing, and surface finishing, typically applied in manufacturing processes to shape or refine workpieces. Refractories are heat-resistant materials used to line furnaces, kilns, and reactors in high-temperature industrial processes, primarily in steel, cement, glass, and non-ferrous metals production. Both sectors fall within the NAICS 327 nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing classification, and many companies in this list operate across both categories.

How large is the global abrasives market?

The global abrasives market was estimated at approximately $65 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 6 percent, reaching approximately $125 billion by 2035. Growth is driven by automotive manufacturing, semiconductor production, aerospace precision components, and infrastructure construction. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest share of the global abrasives market.

What skills define the best leaders in nonmetallic minerals manufacturing?

The most effective leaders in this sector typically combine deep technical understanding of materials science with the commercial and operational discipline needed to run complex, capital-intensive global businesses. The leaders profiled here have backgrounds spanning engineering, finance, strategy, and general management, and have built careers within the sector over 10-plus years in most cases. They also share an ability to lead diverse, multinational teams across multiple languages and regulatory environments.

Final Thoughts

The 27 leaders profiled in this directory run some of the most technically demanding, operationally complex, and strategically important manufacturing organisations on earth. Their companies produce the materials that grind, polish, refract, and shape the products of modern industry. The sector does not attract the attention that consumer technology or pharmaceutical manufacturing does, but it is no less consequential, and the leadership required to run it is no less demanding.

What these leaders share is a quality common to the best executive teams in any sector: the ability to operate strategically in conditions that reward short-term tactical thinking, to build organisations that outlast individual moments of market advantage, and to develop the people around them to a level that sustains performance. These are not qualities that come from product knowledge alone. They come from the kind of deliberate, well-facilitated investment in team dynamics and leadership culture that distinguishes organisations that compound over decades from those that deliver one or two strong cycles.

If your organisation’s leadership team would benefit from an executive team offsite, a Working Genius workshop, or a leadership development programme that produces real behavioural change beyond the session itself, book Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast (230-plus episodes, listeners in 150-plus countries), to facilitate at jonno@consultclarity.org. Whether virtual or face to face, Jonno works with leadership teams in corporates, schools, and nonprofits around the world. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect.

For more on executive team facilitation, see 

executive team offsite facilitation and a broader directory of 

team culture thought leaders.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230-plus episodes reaching listeners in 150-plus countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000-plus participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next Read

If you found this directory useful, you may also be interested in a broader look at manufacturing leadership facilitation and what it takes to build executive teams that perform at the highest level in industrial organisations.

Keep reading: 21 Best Manufacturing Leadership Facilitators USA (2026)

Sources: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries; First Research Abrasives Manufacturing Industry Profile; First Research Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing Industry Profile.