Steel Mills

Reliance Promotes Lewis to President, Former CEO Hannah Retires from Board

Written by Michael Cowden

January 18, 2021

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has promoted Karla R. Lewis to the role of president and given her a seat on the company’s board of directors. Both moves were effective on Jan. 15 and were part of Reliance’s executive succession plan, the company said.

“Karla has been at the center of Reliance’s extremely well executed growth strategy and her knowledge of both Reliance and the larger metals service center industry is extraordinary,” Chairman of the Board Mark Kaminski said in a statement.

Lewis, who joined Reliance in 1992, most recently served as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Arthur Ajemyan, who joined Reliance in 2005 from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has been promoted to CFO.

Reliance also said that David H. Hannah, a long-time former chief executive officer, would retire from its board and not stand for re-election at the company’s 2021 annual shareholders meeting.

Hannah, who joined Reliance in 1981, was CEO from 1999 to 2015. He led its 1994 initial public offering and an aggressive growth strategy that resulted in Reliance becoming the largest metals service center in North America.

“For 40 years, Dave Hannah has personified Reliance’s culture of excellence and integrity. The Reliance board and I deeply appreciate Dave’s long and distinguished record of accomplishments,” Kaminski said.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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