Steven C. Blanco was elected Vice President of Global Operational Excellence, responsible for implementing leading-edge manufacturing processes and systems that advance the effectiveness and efficiency of MSA’s global manufacturing operations. With nearly 25 years of operations experience, Mr. Blanco joined MSA from Eaton Corporation, where he worked for the past five years and most recently served as Vice President of Manufacturing for the company’s $7.2 billion Electrical Sector. Prior to this, he spent nearly 20 years with Ford Motor Company and Visteon, serving in a variety of engineering, plant management and operations roles. In this capacity, Mr. Blanco succeeds Kerry M. Bove, who now serves as President of MSA Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin America.

As part of a planned management succession for the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Stacy P. McMahan joined MSA in 2012 as Senior Vice President of Finance. In this newly created role, Ms. McMahan is responsible for leading the company’s Internal Audit, Treasury and Global Decision Support functions. Ms. McMahan comes to MSA with more than 23 years of finance leadership experience, most recently serving as Vice President of Finance, Customer Channels Group, for Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Prior to this she spent six years with Johnson & Johnson as Vice President of Finance, and 16 years with Eli Lilly, where she served in a treasury oriented position in Brussels, Belgium; as Finance Manager in Basingstoke Hampshire, UK; and in a CFO role in Sydney, Australia.

In order to continue strengthening MSA’s core Fixed Gas and Flame Detection (FGFD) business around the world, Nishan J. Vartanian was elected Vice President of Fixed Gas and Flame Detection, responsible for developing and implementing the strategic blueprint for MSA’s FGFD business. A 27-year veteran of MSA, Mr. Vartanian served as the integration leader for MSA’s 2010 acquisition of Californiabased General Monitors. Following the integration, Mr. Vartanian was named Chief Operating Officer of General Monitors in 2011.

In anticipation of future retirements among the Company’s Board of Directors, in 2012 MSA elected Alvaro Garcia-Tunon to its Board of Directors. Mr. Garcia-Tunon is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB), a leading supplier of technology-based products and services for rail, transit and other global industries. In addition to his executive role at Wabtec, Mr. Garcia-Tunon currently serves on the board of Matthews International Corp. (NASDAQ GSM: MATW), where he chairs the Audit Committee. Mr. Garcia-Tunon also has served as Vice President of Acquisitions for AMF Bowling Centers, Inc. and held various leadership roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen and Co.