Inducted
2015
Degrees
- BS, mechanical engineering, WVU, 1982
Richard Black is a 1982 BSME graduate of WVU, and recently began his own business in industrial business consulting. He lives in Cornelius, NC.
Previously Rick served as the Vice President of Fabricated Products at Performance Fibers, where he successfully lead an investment project doubling their tire cord fabric capacity in China and increasing company global sales by $60M in less than 18 months. Prior to taking on the Asia role in 2011, Rick served as Vice President of Technology where he drove and coordinated technical strategies for growth and innovation for the company globally. Mr. Black has more than 30 years of extensive global commercial and manufacturing experience.
Performance Fibers is a world leader in the production of industrial polyester fibers and fabrics with operations in North America, Europe and Asia and the second largest producer of tire cord fabric globally. The company’s products serve a wide variety of industries including transportation, marine, construction, energy, geotechnical, furnishings and many others.
Prior to coming to Performance Fibers, he held several executive positions including Chief Marketing Officer at Sigma Group, an industrial manufacturer based in India, and Vice President of Global Sales at Oberg Industries. Prior to that he was with General Electric Plastics Division in a variety of global and domestic roles in marketing, sales leadership, product management and supply chain, including serving as the global commercial director for their Lexan® business and as manager of Asia-Pacific EE marketing and product development. Mr. Black is Six Sigma certified. His greatest achievement is being happily married over 30 years and raising a son, Daniel, who is a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Carolina.
Rick and his wife like to travel and attend college sporting events. Over the last 2 years they have become national advocates for the prevention of elder exploitation and guardianship abuse. Rick serves as the Nevada coordinator for the National Association to Stop Guardianship Abuse (NASGA) and has spoken on ABC News and before the Nevada state legislature.