Merritt Gaunt has been named president and CEO of Guardian Industries, a Koch company. In this role, Gaunt will assume leadership of Guardian Glass. The change follows the retirement of Ron Vaupel, president and CEO of Guardian Industries since 2014.
“Merritt has proven to be a strategic, effective leader in his time here,” noted Jeff Ramsey, executive vice president of Koch. “I’m confident this will be a transformative time for Guardian Glass as it begins a new chapter in becoming the preferred global supplier of glass solutions.”
After joining Guardian in 2013 as managing director of corporate development, Gaunt held operations and other leadership roles. In his most recent role as executive vice president of Guardian Industries, he led the company’s business development and supply chain strategies. Prior to Guardian, he gained 10 years of experience in finance, marketing and business development leadership at other Koch companies.
“Guardian Glass is finding new ways to build, design, and inspire with glass. We’re here to collaborate on addressing the complex challenges of the glass industry,” said Gaunt. “Our team is over 6,700 strong, across five continents, and I’m excited to see what we can do to deliver new solutions for our customers and continue to build preferred partnerships with our suppliers and communities.”