Sep 18, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. RISI announced on September 15 that International Paper chairman and chief executive officer John Faraci has been selected as the 2006 CEO of the year. Mr. Faraci will be presented with the award on October 5 at the 21st RISI North American Forest Products Conference in Boston. Mr. Faraci was nominated CEO of the year in an annual RISI survey of investment analysts and portfolio managers that includes such criteria as leadership, vision and strategic accomplishment. International Paper, which recently moved its headquarters to Memphis, Tennessee, is the world's largest pulp and paper producer with total capacity of 17.2 million tonnes, sales of $25 billion in 2005, and 69 000 employees in operations across 40 countries. Mr. Faraci, who was previously president of IP, became chairman and CEO of the company November 1, 2004, succeeding John Dillon. He joined the company in 1974, holding various financial, product management, planning and general management positions. In 1989, he was named a vice president and in 1994, he assumed responsibility for paper, bristols converting division. He later served as CEO and managing director of Carter Holt Harvey, the company's former 50.5-%-owned forest products subsidiary in New Zealand, before becoming IP's chief financial officer in 1999. Headquartered in the United States, International Paper has been a leader in the forest products industry for more than 100 years. The company is currently transforming its operations to focus on its global uncoated papers and packaging businesses, which operate and serve customers in the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia. These businesses are complemented by an extensive North American merchant distribution system. International Paper is committed to environmental, economic and social sustainability, and has a long-standing policy of using no wood from endangered forests.