Who’s on the move: December 28, 2021

IATA

Marie Owens Thomsen will join the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as its chief economist in January 2022. Owens Thomsen leaves Banque Lombard Odier, where she was head of global trends and sustainability since 2020. Previously she was the global head of investment intelligence at Indosuez Wealth Management. Additionally, she has served in chief economist and related roles for Merrill Lynch, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and HSBC. Owens Thomsen holds a PhD in international economics from The Graduate Institute in Geneva. Holding U.S., U.K. and Swiss nationalities, she has worked in the U.K., France and Switzerland and is fluent in Swedish, English and French. Owens Thomsen succeeds Brian Pearce who retired from IATA earlier this year after serving as Chief Economist since 2004.

Kion Group

Rob Smith, a U.S and German citizen, will become the new CEO of Kion Group AG. He succeeds Gordon Riske on January 1, 2022. Riske will leave the executive board on December 31, 2021 – six months before his contract expires when he turns 65. He will continue as an advisor during the period until his original contract expires. Smith is currently president and CEO of the publicly listed Finnish group Konecranes. From 2013 to 2019, he was senior vice-president and general manager Europe, Africa and Middle East of AGCO Corporation. Before that, he held management positions in automotive supply and capital goods companies in the U.S., France and Germany. Smith earned an MBA in international operations and finance from the University of Texas at Austin – Red McCombs School of Business. He earned his Dr.rer.pol. degree from the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.

American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations announced Richard Pianka will become the federation’s new general counsel and executive vice-president for legal affairs. He will assume the role previously held by Jennifer Hall, who now heads to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to serve as the organization’s general counsel and chief of staff. Pianka is being promoted after serving as ATA’s deputy general counsel and chief counsel of the ATA Litigation Center. He’ll continue to lead the Litigation Center in his new role, in addition to overseeing all legal affairs for ATA. Pianka received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2005. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining ATA, he practiced general and appellate litigation at national law firms in Washington, D.C.

– December 28, 2021