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Malisa J. Sommers to Succeed Thomas A. Coughlin as General Manager-Global Materials Management and Procurement Operations at U. S. Steel

Posted on: Monday, 16 February 2009, 12:00 CST

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John H. Goodish today announced that Malisa J. Sommers has been named general manager-global materials management and procurement operations. Sommers will succeed Thomas A. Coughlin, who has elected to retire effective Feb. 28 after 37 years of service with the company.

"Tom's extensive experience in procurement-related activities during his distinguished career with U. S. Steel consistently contributed to supply chain cost reductions and efficiency improvements," said Goodish.

In her new position, Sommers will be responsible for parts and materials inventory management, procurement support activities and the company's contractor safety program at every U. S. Steel facility in North America and Central Europe. She will report to Senior Vice President-Procurement, Real Estate, Raw Materials & Integration Christopher J. Navetta.

"Malisa's demonstrated abilities in both procurement and materials management will aid our ongoing efforts to ensure the continued effective and efficient management of our supply chain activities," Goodish explained.

Prior to joining U. S. Steel in 2001, Sommers, 44, worked for Wheeling-Nisshin, Inc., a steel coating facility in Follansbee, W.Va., for 13 years. Sommers spent her first three years with U. S. Steel at Straightline, the company's former steel distribution subsidiary, serving two years as manager-demand fulfillment and one year as manager-customer care.

In 2004, Sommers moved to U. S. Steel's corporate headquarters after being named manager-purchasing information technology. One year later, she advanced to manager-CAPEX procurement, where she managed procurement activities related to capital expenditure projects around the company. Sommers assumed her most recent position, manager-materials management, in 2007.

Sommers, a native of Burgettstown, Pa., earned her bachelor's degree in industrial management from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and her master's degree in business administration from Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio) in 1994. She will continue to be based at U. S. Steel's corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh.

Coughlin, 60, began his U. S. Steel career in 1971 in the accounting department at the company's former South Works in Chicago. From 1976 to 1984, he held increasingly responsible positions in purchasing and traffic at locations in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Beginning with his 1984 appointment as manager-purchasing at the company's Pittsburgh headquarters, Coughlin advanced through a series of managerial positions in purchasing until he was named general manager-purchasing at U. S. Steel's joint venture USS/KOBE Steel Company in Lorain, Ohio, in 1998.

In 1999, Coughlin was named director of administration for U. S. Steel's Lorain Tubular Company, now called Lorain Tubular Operations, which was formed in August 1999 as a result of the transfer of USS/KOBE's steelmaking and bar production assets to Republic Technologies International. He was promoted to general manager of the facility in 2000.

Coughlin was assigned to U. S. Steel Kosice in the Slovak Republic in January 2003 to serve as managing director of purchasing. He returned to the United States later that year when he was appointed general manager-purchasing. He advanced to his most recent position in 2007.

Originally from Blue Island, Ill., Coughlin graduated from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in finance.

For more information about U. S. Steel, visit www.ussteel.com.

SOURCE U. S. Steel

Source: PR Newswire

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