AKRON—Robert J. Keegan, currently an Eastman Kodak Co. executive, will leave to become Goodyear's new president, COO and a member of the company's board on Oct. 1, the Akron-based tire maker said.
Mr. Keegan, 53, has been president of Kodak's Consumer Imaging unit. He will report to Goodyear Chairman and CEO Samir G. Gibara.
Goodyear's chairman said Mr. Keegan will "focus his energy on the daily global business operations as we move our product offerings and services closer to the consumer.|.|.|. This will allow me, as chairman and CEO," Mr. Gibara said, "to concentrate my efforts on Goodyear's strategic opportunities and to continue to grow the company profitably."
Goodyear said Mr. Keegan joined Kodak in 1972 and has held a series of management positions in finance and marketing, including respective stints as general manager of Kodak operations in New Zealand and Spain and head of Consumer Imaging for the company's European, Middle East and Africa regions. He was elected a corporate vice president in 1993.
Mr. Keegan left Kodak in 1995 to join Avery Dennison Corp. in Pasadena, Calif., as executive vice president and global strategy officer. However, he returned two years later to become president of Kodak Professional. Later, he was named president of the company's Consumer Imaging operations and a senior vice president. He was elected an executive vice president in 1999.
Mr. Keegan holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. and an MBA from the University of Rochester.