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North Charleston, South Carolina-based Ingevity Corporation (NYSE:NGVT) announced its board of directors appointed David H. Li as the company’s president and CEO, effective as of April 7, 2025, and that he is expected to join the board of directors following the 2025 annual meeting.

Li succeeds Ingevity board member, Luis Fernandez-Moreno, who has been interim president and CEO since October 2024. Fernandez-Moreno will remain on Ingevity’s board.

Li has more than 25 years of experience in the specialty materials industry. He most recently served as CEO, president and a member of the board of CMC Materials, Inc., a global supplier of advanced materials focused on the semiconductor and energy industries, prior to its sale to Entegris, Inc. in 2022.

“David (Dave) has a broad and proven track record of repositioning businesses across product lines and geographies to achieve substantial growth, strong financial performance and outstanding stockholder returns,” said Ingevity’s board chair, Jean Blackwell.

Blackwell added, “These accomplishments and his ability to drive strategic execution and organizational excellence across global organizations make Dave the ideal CEO to lead Ingevity and enable the company to realize its full potential as a world class specialty chemicals and materials manufacturer.”

“It is an honor to step into the president and CEO role at this pivotal time and have the opportunity to build on the strong momentum the Ingevity board and management team have created,” said Li.

Li added, “Over the course of my career, success has been fueled by building high-performing teams and reshaping portfolios to solve customers’ greatest challenges. I look forward to leveraging my experience to unlock the value within Ingevity and position the company for long-term profitable growth and superior value creation.”

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Luis for his service to Ingevity as interim president and CEO,” said Blackwell. “Under his leadership, Ingevity has undertaken a number of strategic initiatives, including a proactive approach to portfolio management, that have resulted in improved operational performance and free cash flow generation."

Li served as chief executive officer, president and a member of the board of CMC Materials from January 2015 to July 2022.

Over his tenure and at the time of CMC’s sale to Entegris, the company had delivered a four-fold return to stockholders and reported record revenue of $1.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA margin of 30 percent, in the top-tier of industry peers.

Before being named chief executive officer and president, Li served as CMC’s vice president of the Asia Pacific region for seven years.

Prior to that, he held various senior leadership and management positions at CMC, including in the areas of product line management, operations, supply chain and investor relations.

Ingevity operates in three reporting segments: Performance Materials, which includes activated carbon; Advanced Polymer Technologies, which includes caprolactone polymers; and Performance Chemicals, which includes specialty chemicals and road technologies.

Its products are used in a variety of applications, including adhesives, agrochemicals, asphalt paving, certified biodegradable bioplastics, coatings, elastomers, pavement markings and automotive components.

Ingevity operates from 31 countries around the world and employs approximately 1,600 people.