AUBURN HILLS — President of Guardian Glass Group Russell Ebeid has been named chairman of the board of Guardian Industries, following the March 13 death of former Guardian CEO and owner Bill Davidson.

Guardian Industries Chairman Russell Ebeid

Ebeid is a son of Lebanese immigrants.
Also elected to the five-member board were Duane Faulkner, president of Guardian Building Products Group, Robert Gorlin, vice president of Guardian Industries, Guardian Industries CFO Jeffrey Knight and Peter Walters, group vice president of Guardian Industries.

According to a company statement, the board members will continue to be responsible for day-to-day operations of their respective business areas in addition to their new roles, where they will also be responsible for “setting overall direction and overseeing the ongoing operation of the company.”

A senior management team set up by Davidson elected the board.

Davidson told Crain’s Detroit Business in 2007 that he was planning for the succession of his estimated $5.7 billion global glass-making company.

While the new board is now in control of metro Detroit’s third-largest privately held company — behind only Chrysler L.L.C and Penske Corp. in 2007 revenue, according to Crain’s — the company remains majority-owned by the Davidson family.

Guardian was founded as a small windshield fabricator founded to now people worldwide at locations in 21 countries in North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Guardian employs more than 19,000 and makes glass and fiberglass products for the construction and automotive industries.