H.B. Fuller Co. has announced that James J. Owens will join the company as senior vice president, North America region, on Sept. 2, 2008. Owens, of Pittstown, NJ, spent 22 years with National Starch's adhesives business, a division of ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries Limited) in a variety of management positions. These included corporate vice president and general manager of the North American adhesives business; division vice president and general manager, Europe; business director for the pressure-sensitive and laminating adhesives business unit; marketing manager; and technical services manager. He joined Henkel earlier this year, running the North American adhesives business, upon the company's acquisition of National Starch. Owens, who is the upcoming chairman of the Adhesive and Sealant Council, earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and a master's in business administration from the Wharton Business School.

"We are delighted to welcome Jim to H.B. Fuller,” said Michele Volpi, H.B. Fuller president and chief executive officer. “His wealth of industry knowledge and commercial leadership, combined with his impressive track record of delivering results - double-digit profitability improvements for the past seven years - will be strong assets as we further develop and execute our customer-centric growth strategies. We look forward to working with him."

For more information, visit www.hbfuller.com.