PPG taps outsider Jerry Dempsey as chairman

In a move that seemed to take everyone by surprise, PPG Industries has gone outside the company for the first time in its history to find a chairman. The Pittsburgh-based glass, paint, and chemicals producer has named Jerry E. Dempsey to succeed Vincent A. Sarni as chairman and chief executive officer on Sept. 1. Dempsey has been senior vice president of WMX Technologies, an Oak Brook, Ill.-based waste disposal and recycling company previously known as Waste Management Inc., and has headed WMX's Chemical Waste Management subsidiary. Sarni, who this month turned 65, the company's mandatory retirement age, is slated to retire at the end of August. Despite this time frame, the announcement seemed to many inside the company to come very late. And when it did come, it was not what they expected—after watching executives within the company seemingly groomed for the top spot over the past few years. Outside the company, there also was ...