Executive Management

John P. McConnell is Executive Chairman of Worthington Industries.

McConnell began his career at Worthington in 1975 as a general laborer in the Louisville, Kentucky steel plant. He also worked as a sales representative for two of Worthington's divisions. McConnell served as corporate personnel director and has been instrumental in administering the company's highly recognized employee-based policies. He was appointed vice president and general manager of the company's largest steel facility in Columbus, Ohio in 1985.

A member of Worthington's board of directors since 1990, McConnell became vice chairman in 1992 and was named chief executive officer in March of 1993. In September of 1996 he was named chairman of the board. In September of 2020, he was named executive chairman.

McConnell is active in numerous community organizations and currently serves on the board of directors for OhioHealth. He has served on the boards of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Children's Hospital, the YMCA and the Columbus Zoological Association. He is majority owner of the Columbus Blue Jackets National Hockey League franchise and chairman emeritus of the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation. The foundation uses the unique resources of its professional athletes, coaches and staff to improve the quality of life throughout central Ohio.

Andy Rose joined Worthington Industries in 2008 as vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) when the Company and the country were deep in the Great Recession. Rose helped preserve liquidity and financial stability and guide the Company through that challenge. In 2014, he was promoted to executive vice president and CFO and has been instrumental in advancing the Company’s financial and capital allocation strategies. He was named president of Worthington Industries in August 2018 and became CEO of the Company on Sept. 1, 2020 CEO of the Company.

Before joining Worthington, Rose worked at MCG Capital Corporation where he was a senior investment professional in the Atlanta office for the $1.5 billion public investment company. He focused on making control-equity investments and providing debt financing for companies in the manufacturing, distribution and transportation and logistics industries.

Previously, Rose was partner, co-founder and member of the investment committee with Peachtree Equity Partners, a private equity fund backed by Goldman Sachs. He managed debt and equity recapitalizations for manufacturing, distribution and service firms, served on the board of directors of various companies, advised management on growth strategies and operations, and managed the firm’s institutional investor base. Prior to that, Rose served as vice president of private equity at Wachovia Capital Associates for five years and started his career at J.P. Morgan & Co. in global cash management.

Rose earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Rose serves as a member of the board of directors of White Castle®, chairman of the board of Rev1 Ventures and as a member of the Columbus Business Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and The Ohio Business Roundtable. Previously, he served on the board of trustees of the Community Shelter Board, The First Tee of Central Ohio and the FM Global Advisory Board.

Geoff G. Gilmore was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Worthington Industries in August 2018.

Gilmore joined Worthington Industries in 1998 as an inside sales representative in Steel Processing. Over the next 12 years, he took on sales roles of increasing responsibility, from a territory manager to commercial lead for all automotive sales. In April 2010, Gilmore was promoted to general manager of the Worthington Steel Delta, Ohio facility where he was responsible for overseeing the facility’s manufacturing and sales operations. In July 2011, he was named vice president of purchasing for Worthington Industries responsible for all purchasing efforts across the Company including steel, commodity and OEM purchasing. In August 2012, he was named president of Worthington Steel. In June 2016 he was named president of Worthington Cylinders Corporation.

Gilmore earned his bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and his MBA from The University of Michigan. He resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Erika, and three children.

Joseph B. Hayek was named vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Worthington Industries in October of 2018.

Hayek joined Worthington in April 2014, as vice president of mergers & acquisitions and corporate development. In April 2017, he was named general manager of the Company’s oil and gas equipment business.

Prior to joining Worthington, Hayek was the president of Sarcom, a $600 million IT solutions provider and the largest subsidiary of PCM, Inc. He also served as PCM’s executive vice president of corporate development and investor relations from 2008 to 2012. Prior to PCM, Hayek spent 10 years in investment banking with Raymond James and Wachovia.

Hayek serves on the board of trustees of the Community Shelter Board and the board of advisors of the Fishel Company. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Miami University and MBA from Duke University, where he was named a Rollins Scholar. He resides in Columbus with his wife and three children.

Cathy Lyttle was named senior vice president and chief human resources officer in September 2018. She leads the strategic direction for the design, development and execution of Worthington’s human resources initiatives, advancing the Company’s strong culture, deepening employee engagement with a focus on workforce development and recruitment.

Lyttle joined Worthington Industries in January 1999 as vice president of corporate communications. She also became the Investor Relations Officer in 2009. Before joining Worthington, she was vice president of JMAC Hockey, LLC, where she helped direct the startup of the business office for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the National Hockey League's expansion franchise. Prior to her JMAC position, Lyttle was vice president of marketing for the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce. Lyttle worked with member companies to help market the area and she worked on a number of economic development initiatives. She was part of the team that helped attract the Major League Soccer franchise, The Crew, to Columbus in 1994. Earlier in her career, she was a journalist. She worked at newspapers and radio stations, including WTVN-Radio Columbus before becoming the assignment editor for WBNS-TV Columbus.

Lyttle is active in the Columbus community serving on a number of boards. She is chair of the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation; chair of Experience Columbus; former chair and member of the Columbus Baseball Team, Inc. - Columbus Clippers/Franklin County Stadium, Inc. board of directors; executive board member of Celebrate One; and Chair of the Columbus Youth Foundation. Lyttle was appointed and served on the Columbus State Community College board of trustees. She has also served in leadership roles on the boards of Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus Chamber of Commerce, McConnell Arts Center, Lifecare Alliance, Columbus Sports Commission, Leadership Columbus and Columbus State Community College Foundation.

A graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, Lyttle has received a number of honors. In 2008, she was named a Woman of Achievement by the Columbus YWCA; she was inducted into the Leadership Columbus Hall of Fame as an inaugural member in 2004; International Association of Business Communicators - Columbus recognized her as Distinguished Communicator of the Year in 2000; Columbus Business First named her a 40 under 40 in 1997.

Bill Wertz was named vice president of Transformation in April 2020.

Wertz joined Worthington Industries in 1997 as an inside sales representative in Steel Processing. Over the next 12 years, he was a territory manager in various sales territories in the U.S. In February 2009, Wertz was promoted to supply chain manager of the Worthington Steel Delta, Ohio facility where he was responsible for overseeing the facility’s inventory and sales and operations plan. In July 2012, he was named regional sales manager for Worthington Steel. In 2014 he was named director of commercial transformation for Worthington Steel and in 2016 was promoted to director of supply chain for Worthington Steel which included managing the inside sales teams. In September of 2018 he was promoted to director of corporate analytics responsible for establishing the corporate advanced analytics team at Worthington Industries.

Wertz earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from The Ohio State University and his MBA from The University of Toledo. He resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Beth, and three children.

Sonya Higginbotham was named vice president of corporate communications and brand management in September 2018. She leads the Company’s internal and external communications, brand strategy, marketing, government relations and philanthropic activities.

Higginbotham joined Worthington Industries in 1997 in the corporate training and development department. In 1999, she was named community relations coordinator where she helped form the Company’s first corporate communications department. In the following years, she grew the department and her responsibilities. In 2007, Higginbotham was named director of corporate communications. In 2011, she was named to Business First’s 40 Under 40 list and in 2014 received Otterbein University’s Young Alumni Award for Professional Achievement.

Higginbotham is active in a number of local organizations. She is currently a member of the advisory board of the Salvation Army and serves as chair of the Community Relations committee. She is also a member of Mid-Ohio Food Bank’s mobilizing the public committee and served on the board of Junior Achievement of Central Ohio for 10 years. She is past president of the Columbus Chapter of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries, past trustee of the Westerville Library and delivers Meals on Wheels to the elderly in Columbus.

Higginbotham is a graduate of Otterbein University with a bachelor’s degree in business & organizational communications and Franklin University with a master’s degree in marketing. She is married to husband, Carl, and together they have two children.

Cliff J. Larivey was named vice president of purchasing for Worthington Industries in August 2012. He is responsible for all direct and indirect commodity purchasing for the Company.

Larivey joined the Company as director of steel purchasing when Worthington acquired Gibraltar Strip Steel in February 2010. Prior to the acquisition, Larivey spent more than 10 years at Gibraltar, working his way up the ranks in various positions including production scheduler, materials application and inside sales manager. In 2000, Larivey was promoted to director of commercial sales and marketing, overseeing Gibraltar’s customer service team, territory managers and marketing specialists. In 2008, he was named vice president of marketing, and one year later, added vice president of purchasing to his title. In that role, he managed the integration of the company’s marketing and purchasing functions.

Larivey holds a Bachelor of Science in business from the University of New York at Buffalo. He resides in New Albany, Ohio with his wife, Robin, and their three daughters.

Matt Schlabig was named chief information officer of Worthington Industries in May 2015. In this role, he leads the Company’s Information Technology group focused on expanding the Company’s ERP footprint to all acquired companies, building analytic capabilities, strengthening cyber security and implementing mobile capabilities.

Schlabig joined Worthington in 2012 as the director of IT operations.

In 2013, he was promoted to vice president of IT. In that role, he successfully led several large-scale initiatives, including an ERP system integration for Engineered Cabs and the latest Oracle upgrade.

Schlabig has more than 25 years of experience in the information technology field. Prior to joining Worthington, Schlabig worked as a consultant for companies including Hewlett Packard and Ernst & Young Management Consulting. He specialized in technology transformation initiatives, managing ERP and system implementations, data center and infrastructure updates and M&A integrations.

Schlabig is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He earned his MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He resides in Galena, Ohio with his wife and two children.

Steve Witt was named corporate controller of Worthington Industries in April 2022.

Since joining Worthington in 2003, Steve has led the Accounting and Finance teams for two of our largest business segments. Most recently, he served as senior director of Accounting and Finance for Pressure Cylinders since 2014. Prior to that, he was regional controller and director of Accounting for Steel Processing – serving from 2007 to 2014.

Steve also spent time as a facility-level controller and has been a key member of various integration teams on a number of acquisitions, managing financial due diligence and purchase accounting.

Additionally, Steve was the financial lead on the Company’s first Transformation team and he served as part of the traveling team responsible for driving business improvements.

Before coming to Worthington, Steve was controller at General Electric Superabrasives and spent eight years at KPMG. He received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from The Ohio State University.

Jeff Klingler was named president of Worthington Industries’ Steel Processing Division in May 2019.

He joined the Company on the production floor in 1992 before working up the sales ranks. After 15 years with Worthington, he left to join Banner Service Corporation as vice president of sales, marketing and procurement. After six years with Banner, he returned to Worthington in 2014 leading the creation of Steel Processing’s supply chain solutions strategic business unit (SBU). He was named general manager of Steel’s hot rolled value-add SBU in August 2016. His role expanded in November 2018 to also include oversight of the cold rolled strip steel business.

A native of Aberdeen, MD, Klingler resides in New Albany, Ohio with his wife and two children.

Eric Smolenski was named president of Worthington Industries’ Building Products and Sustainable Energy Solutions in June 2021.

He joined Worthington Industries in 1994 and has served in several capacities in various departments throughout his career, including accounting, finance, human resources and information technology. Smolenski was named vice president of human resources in 2006. In 2012, he was named chief information officer before being named general manager of Worthington’s oil and gas equipment business in 2015. In 2019 he was named president of the Pressure Cylinders Division. Prior to being named president, he served as general manager of the Company’s industrial products business.

Smolenski received his MBA from Otterbein University and his bachelor’s degree in accounting from The Ohio State University. A member of the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium’s Board of Directors, Smolenski resides in Galena, Ohio with his wife and three children.

Worthington Industries Inc.

Marcus Rogier was named Treasurer in 2014 and added the role of Investor Relations Officer in 2018. In addition to investor relations, he is responsible for directing the Company’s capital markets strategies and banking relationships, real estate and enterprise risk management.

Rogier joined Worthington Industries in 2002 and has diverse experience working across the Company including accounting, human resources, treasury and transformation. In 2012, Rogier was named director of corporate development & strategic planning. In that role, he was responsible for coordinating corporate level acquisition and divestiture activity, corporate development and coordinating the Company’s strategic planning process.

Rogier earned his MBA and bachelor’s in accounting and finance from The Ohio State University. He resides in Powell, Ohio with his wife, Michelle, and their two children.

Patrick J. Kennedy was named vice president - general counsel and secretary of Worthington Industries in January of 2021.

Kennedy joined Worthington in June of 2016, in a management development capacity as a part of the Worthington Industries Rotational Experience and Development program (WIRED). After two years in the program, he joined Worthington’s legal department as corporate counsel.

Prior to joining Worthington, he was a partner with the law firm Ice Miller LLP, where he was a member of the firm’s business law group.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and Juris Doctor from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. He resides in Worthington with his wife and three children.

Steve Caravati was named president of consumer products for Worthington Industries in June 2021.

Caravati joined Worthington Industries in 2005 as an inside sales representative for Pressure Cylinders. In 2007, he was named territory manager for industrial products. Over the next 12 years, he took on several roles within Worthington’s consumer products business, including national account manager, director of sales, product director and business director. In 2019, he was promoted to general manager. Caravati is focused on the strategic vision and success of Worthington’s outdoor living, tools and celebration product lines.

Caravati earned his bachelor’s degree and his master’s in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

Shellee Simmons-Taylor was named vice president of Corporate Strategy & Innovation in January 2022. She partners with leaders to develop business strategies, assess new market opportunities for potential acquisitions and start-ups and conduct voice of customer research to fuel innovation.

Simmons-Taylor joined Worthington Industries in 2013 as an analyst on the Corporate Centers of Excellence team, where she helped develop business strategies and identify commercial, operation and supply chain improvements across business units. Over the next few years, she took on roles of increasing responsibility, leading strategy development and identifying new business opportunities. In February 2020, she was promoted to the director of Corporate Strategy & Innovation.

Prior to joining Worthington Industries, Simmons-Taylor spent over 10 years at Consumer Reports in various roles, including operations, business planning, product management, new product development and strategy. She also spent time as the Operating Deputy to the Chief Operating Officer, where she was responsible for facilitating corporate strategy development, cascading to platform and functional strategies and communicating strategic milestones.

Simmons-Taylor has an undergraduate degree in finance and economics from Pace University and a graduate degree from the City University of New York, Herbert H. Lehman College. She serves on the board of directors of Maryhaven. She is married and resides in Marysville, Ohio.