Board of Directors

Business Unit Leaders

Leadership Council

Jason Bakk is Vice President, Utility and Industrial Products (UIP) at Koppers. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business including growing market share, strengthening customer relationships, optimizing production capabilities, and promoting safety and sustainability in the UIP business.

Jason joined Koppers in 2012 as the Phthalic Anhydride Plant Superintendent at the company’s Stickney, Illinois, facility. He was promoted to Plant Manager in 2014 and then to Operations Manager in 2018 before moving into the role of Vice President, North American Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) in 2020. In this role, he directed commercial, financial, and production activities and helped manage the long-term capital plan for the CMC business segment. Bakk has more than 24 years of chemical industry experience, the last 11 with Koppers.

Prior to Koppers, Jason worked at Cristal Global as an Operations Manager for a titanium metal production facility. He has also held the roles of Process Engineer, Papermill Supervisor, and Pulp Mill Process Engineer at various companies.

Jason earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Ontario. He also has an MBA from Benedictine University.

Vice President, Utility and Industrial Products

Douglas J. Fenwick is President, Performance Chemicals at Koppers, since his election to the position in May 2017. Previously, he served as Vice President of Koppers Performance Chemicals Inc. from the company’s acquisition of Osmose, Inc. in August 2014.

Prior to joining Koppers, Doug was employed by Osmose from 2007 to 2014, holding various leadership roles, including Vice President, Customer Services. From 1993 to 2007, he served in a number of sales and operations positions with Brite Manufacturing in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Fenwick graduated from Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and business.

He currently volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto and is an advisory board member of the Southern Conservation Trust in Georgia.

President, Koppers Performance Chemicals 

Travis is the Vice President of Railroad Products and Services (RPS). Travis has overseen all aspects of the legacy crosstie business since April 2019. In January of 2020, Travis took on additional responsibilities to include full P&L accountability for Koppers Railroad Services, Koppers Recovery Resources, and Rail Joints maintenance of way businesses. Travis has been instrumental in growing the RPS business through operational efficiencies and improved asset utilization.

Travis joined Koppers in 2007 as a Sales Administrator in RPS, and in 2011, moved into the position of Northeast Commercial Sales Manager of RPS where he was responsible for a $35M sales territory covering 14 states and two Canadian provinces. He was promoted to Class I Sales Manager in 2015 handling accounts such as Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National, before advancing to Vice President, Commercial Sales in 2016. As Vice President of Commercial Sales, Travis managed a team of seven sales professionals accountable for sales to over 400 accounts across North America.

Travis holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Sales Management from the University of Akron, as well as an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Vice President, Railroad Products and Services 

James J. Healey is Special Assistant to the President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to serving in this advisory role, he held the position of Vice President, Utility and Industrial Products (UIP), where he was responsible for advancing Koppers strategy of being a vertically integrated, high-value global supplier of wood-based technologies to infrastructure markets.

Jim started his career at Osmose as a Field Foreman and subsequently left to earn a master’s degree in wood physics from West Virginia University. In 1985, Jim joined Koppers, where he spent 22 years in various operations roles – the first half of that time period in the railroad business, followed by 11 years in the utility operations.

Adding to his experience in the utility sector, Jim joined Cox Industries in 2007, which then became a part of Koppers with the Cox acquisition in April 2018. He then moved into the role of General Manager – East Region of our UIP business, where he had responsibility for four of seven utility pole treating plants.

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Iowa State University. He has served as President of the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA), voting member of ANSI 05 and a board member of the North American Wood Pole Coalition . He remains actively involved in various industry associations.

He currently resides in Charleston, SC, with his wife Karyn.

Special Assistant to the President and Chief Operating Officer

Christian Nielsen is Senior Vice President, Global Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC). He is responsible for driving efficiencies throughout the Global CMC organization, implementing best practices across the operational network, and leading innovative manufacturing practices to improve Koppers market position.

Most recently, Christian served as Vice President, North American and European CMC. Before that, he held the position of Vice President, European Operations and Operations Manager, European Operations. Christian is based out of the Nyborg, Denmark, facility.

Senior Vice President, Global Carbon Materials and Chemicals 

From our company-wide Zero Harm commitment to the sustainability-based practices and products we undertake, everything we stand for at Koppers starts with our leadership teams.

Meet Our Leaders

Business Unit Leaders

Jason Bakk

Douglas Fenwick

Travis Gross

James Healey

Christian Nielsen

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