Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, has announced the appointment of John Crowe as President and CEO of both Saint-Gobain Corporation (Saint-Gobain’s North American holding company) and CertainTeed Corporation (Saint-Gobain’s largest North American subsidiary).

The appointment was effective September 1.  As President and CEO of Saint-Gobain Corporation, Crowe will act as Saint-Gobain’s representative in North America, overseeing the company’s North American businesses and chairing the company’s Executive Committee.  In this role, he succeeds Gilles Colas, who will return to Saint-Gobain’s Paris headquarters as Senior Vice President in charge of global strategic developments.

In addition, Crowe will assume operational responsibility for CertainTeed, following in the footsteps of Peter Dachowski, who will retire as President and CEO on August 31 after 35 years of service in a wide variety of senior leadership roles at Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed. 

“With more than 30 years of experience in Saint-Gobain’s innovative materials businesses, John is an exceptional leader with strong operational skills,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain. “His appointment underscores Saint-Gobain’s focus on leveraging its innovation and technical expertise to develop products and solutions that change the way we think about built environments. John will help CertainTeed and other Saint-Gobain businesses in North America develop innovative materials that advance the way we build today in order to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”

Crowe most recently served as President of Saint-Gobain’s global abrasives business, with responsibility for more than 13,000 employees and 75 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries. For 30 years, he has served in a wide range of leadership positions within Saint-Gobain group, including President of the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Saint-Gobain Crystals businesses.

He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Clarkson University (Potsdam, New York) and an MBA from Boston College. Crowe has also completed Columbia University's executive program in business administration.