Wallace “Wally” Wells, 74, former president and senior trader of Inter-Chem, Tulsa, Okla., passed away Feb. 8 following a brief but gallant fight against respiratory failure, according to Inter-Chem. The company noted that the inimitable Wells helped to initiate Cargill’s entry into fertilizer trading and distribution. Wells joined Inter-Chem and John Arend in 1978, and for 32 years he was a key asset in building Inter-Chem’s growth and success.
Wells was known as one of the most active market makers and professional traders in the industry. He will be missed not only by his family and fellow employees, but also by many other industry-wide friends and acquaintenances.
Funeral services will be at the Boston Avenue Methodist Church at 11:00 a.m., Monday, Feb. 15. Services will be followed by a 1:30 p.m. reception at Inter-Chem’s office at 1887 E. 71st St., Tulsa. Industry friends interested in attending are requested to RSVP Inter-Chem as soon as possible at 918-496-7711.
PCS Sales announced the following promotions, which were effective on January 1, 2010. John Highley, director, industrial sales, is assuming new responsibilities and has been promoted to senior director, industrial sales. Stacy Schnetzka, district sales manager, has been promoted to director, purified acid sales. Paul Hayden and Dave McLeish, district sales managers, have been promoted to managers, national accounts. Jennifer Zagorski, Paul Whitworth, and John Fowler, sales representatives I, have been promoted to sales representatives II.
The board of directors for The Sulphur Institute (TSI) recently named Hermann Wittje, director, raw materials, The Mosaic Co., as chair of the organization, and Mark Whittemore, executive vice president, commercial, International Commodities Export Corp. (ICEC), as vice chair. This marks the first time in the 50-year history of TSI that representatives from a sulfur-consuming company and a trading company have assumed the leadership of TSI.
“With new leadership representing leading companies in the worldwide sulphur business, this further demonstrates TSI’s growing diversity representing interests of all sulfur stakeholders,” said Catherine Randazzo, TSI president and CEO. “The Sulphur Institute has evolved with the industry and now has member companies from the Arab Gulf and the Caspian Sea regions, where the sulfur business is growing rapidly, joining companies from Asia, Europe, and North America.”
In other news, TSI will be holding its annual meeting April 12-15, this year in Doha, Qatar. For more details, see www.sulphurinstitute.org/symposium10/.
Viterra Inc. has appointed Mike Brooks to the position of senior vice president and chief information officer. He will be responsible for Viterra’s global information technology function, including the relationships Viterra has with its service delivery partners. He joined the company in 1998, and most recently served as vice president and chief information officer.
Brooks previously worked for SHL Systemhouse. He also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, where he designed and managed strategic information systems. He is a past director of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, chairman of the Conference Board of Canada’s CIO Council, and a past president of the Canadian Information Processing Society, Regina chapter.