Nov 19, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. Neenah Paper, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved an executive succession plan under which Sean T. Erwin will retire as CEO at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in May 2011 and John P. O’Donnell, Senior Vice President and COO, will be promoted to President and CEO concurrent with Mr. Erwin’s retirement. Mr. O’Donnell will also join the Board of Directors effective immediately, as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. Mr. Erwin who has been Chairman and CEO since the formation of Neenah Paper following its spin-off from Kimberly-Clark in November 2004 will remain on the company’s Board of Directors as its Non-Executive Chairman. Mr. O’Donnell joined the company three years ago as President of its Fine Paper business after a successful 22 year career at Georgia Pacific and was named COO in June 2010. Ms. Schertell joined Neenah Paper in 2008 and is currently Vice President of Sales and Marketing for its Fine Paper business. Commenting on the Board’s action, Mr. O’Donnell stated, “Neenah Paper is a company where the quality of our products is matched only by the talent and passion of our people. Under Sean’s leadership, the company underwent significant transformation and is clearly well positioned to expand and prosper as we look to the future. I am grateful and enthusiastic to have the opportunity to lead Neenah Paper going forward and am pleased we have such a strong candidate in Julie Schertell who is prepared to assume leadership of our Fine Paper business. Our specialty products and premium papers businesses have exciting organic and globalization opportunities and I’m committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet while delivering a responsible cadence of innovative growth initiatives that will create value for our shareholders.” Neenah Paper is a leading global manufacturer of premium, performance-based papers and specialty products used in a variety of applications including filtration, printing and writing, and as backing and component materials for various specialized industrial and consumer applications. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company has paper manufacturing operations in the United States and Germany.