PACESETTERS
Thinking Global By Dan Martin ' hen Thomas L. ' Gossage became chairman and chief executive officer of Hercules Inc. last January, he undertook the challenge of re-positioning the $3-billion worldwide chemical and aerospace company. Since assuming leadership of the Wilmington, Del.-basecl firm, the 57year-old Gossage has frequently found himself airborne, visiting many of the more than 100 facilities on five continents, overseeing the work of some 20,000 employees and interacting with various constituencies of the diverse corporation. "My role is to get the company re-positioned, to rethink who we are and what we are doing," says Gossage, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1956 and 1957, respectively. "I spend a considerable amount of my time working on the strategies of each of our businesses with the business unit head. I spend a lot of time thinking about the development of people and preparing this company for its future leadership." Gossage joined the Hercules subsidiary, Hercules Speciality Chemicals Co., in 1988; became president and CEO of another subsidiary, Aqualon Co., in
CEO Tom Gossage: Helping Hercules rethink its present and build for its future.
Continued next page GEORGIA TECH • Pacesetters: Gossage
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