Mate appoints president, vice chairman

Dean A. Sundquist, chairman and CEO of Mate Precision Tooling, has announced the appointment of Jack Schneider to the newly created position of vice chairman and Kevin Nicholson to the position of president.

"In the new position of vice chairman, Jack Schneider will focus on strategic and corporate governance issues," according to Sundquist. "Jack is ideal for this position having served Mate for 42 years—the past 25 in senior leadership—including the last 12 years as president."

As the company's new president, Nicholson will head up the day-to-day operations including U.S. and international manufacturing, sales, marketing, and customer service, according to Sundquist. Nicholson was promoted from vice president manufacturing, a position he held since 2001. During that time, he led the company's Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP) and Lean Manufacturing initiatives.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Nicholson holds a B.S. in metallurgical engineering and materials science. He also graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering and is a graduate of the General Management Program at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.