Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has announced that John Bollman will join the company as senior vice president and chief human resources officer, effective March 21. His scope of responsibility includes leadership of human resources and employee relations as well as global safety and communications. Bollman will succeed Brenda Harmon, who has served in the position for more than seven years and will retire effective April 15.

Bollman joins Cooper from Sequa Corp., where he served for the past nine years as chief human resources officer. Owned by The Carlyle Group, Sequa is a $1.5 billion company with 5,500 employees. At Sequa, Bollman was responsible for strategic leadership of the human resources function for key holdings such as Chromalloy, a global firm that provides manufacturing support to gas turbine engine makers as well as services and engine repair for the global airline and energy industries.

Prior to Sequa, Bollman spent more than 18 years at leading global home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp., where he served in a series of human resources positions in the United States and Europe, including vice president of human resources, North America, a post he held for eight years. In this role, Bollman was responsible for providing strategic and transformational human resources leadership for a region that included the United States, Canada and Mexico, with more than $12 billion in revenue and 33,000 employees.

Bollman began his career in the mid-1980s as a labor and employment attorney, having earned a juris doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

“We are pleased to have such a talented HR executive join Cooper as we continue to grow and develop the organizational capabilities that enable us to deliver on our strategic plan,” said President and CEO Brad Hughes. “John will no doubt build on the strong foundation Brenda Harmon has put in place over the past seven years. She has made immense contributions to Cooper and has been a respected, valued member of our leadership team. As we welcome John to the company and look forward to his contributions, the board of directors and I offer our deepest appreciation and best wishes to Brenda upon her retirement.”