Executive Team

Mr. Villavarayan has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Axalta since January 2023. He is also a member of the company’s Board of Directors. Previously, Mr. Villavarayan held many positions of increasing responsibility over the course of his 22 years at Meritor and has extensive international experience as well as experience executing and integrating accretive acquisitions and leading teams to drive transformational change that created significant shareholder value. Most recently, he served as CEO and President and as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to this, he served as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing Meritor’s global operations for its Global Truck and Aftermarket & Industrial business segments, and serving as board lead with executive oversight of the company’s four largest joint ventures. He previously served as Senior Vice President and President – Global Truck, with P&L responsibility, and before that as President – Americas, managing multiple businesses as leader of North and South America. Prior to its acquisition by Cummins Inc. in August 2022, Meritor had global sales of approximately $4 billion and traded on the NYSE. Mr. Villavarayan currently serves as a Director on the Board of Franklin Electric and Focus: HOPE, a Detroit-based non-profit organization. He earned his bachelor’s degree of civil engineering at McMaster University and completed the Wharton Executive Education Advanced Finance Program.

Mr. Anderson has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Axalta since August 2023. Previously, he served as CFO for XPO, Inc., a leading provider of asset-based less-than-truckload trucking transportation services. Prior to XPO, Mr. Anderson was Senior Vice President and CFO at Meritor, Inc., a leading supplier of OEM and aftermarket parts for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. Throughout his 16-year tenure with Meritor, Mr. Anderson also served as Group Vice President, Finance; Treasurer; Assistant Treasurer; and Director, International Capital Markets, Risk Management and Corporate Insurance. Earlier, he held treasury and financial planning roles at General Motors Acceptance Corporation after beginning his career with First Chicago Corporation. Mr. Anderson earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Michigan State University.

Mr. Awada is President, Global Mobility Coatings at Axalta. He leads Axalta’s Mobility Coatings business, supporting the evolving coatings needs of established and emerging automotive and commercial vehicle OEMs, fleet owners and shared mobility providers. Mr. Awada was previously President, Faurecia Clean Mobility – North America, where he also served as a member of Faurecia’s North American Board of Management and President, Faurecia Clean Mobility – Asia Pacific, serving on multiple boards with JV partners. In those roles, Awada ran a multibillion-dollar business and led efforts to develop and deploy an operational turnaround and transform the product line to focus on new technologies for customers seeking sustainability and innovation. Previously at Faurecia, he worked in Europe where he led sales and programs for many international customers. He also spent four years in Asia as the Vice President for light vehicle customer business units, product line, marketing and communications. Mr. Awada started his career after earning his B.A. from the University of Toledo, serving the Ford Motor Company in various roles within the Ford customer service division.

Ms. Bausch is President, Global Industrial Coatings at Axalta. She leads Axalta’s Industrial Coatings businesses, which include energy solutions, coil, wood, general industrial and powder coatings, and drives expansion into new industrial coatings markets. Previously, Ms. Bausch led the Asia Pacific region and the Fluid Technologies business unit for the Carlisle Companies Inc., a manufacturer of engineered products used in roofing, architectural metal, aerospace, medical technologies, industrial, transportation, refinish, and agriculture, mining and construction equipment markets. Before Carlisle, she led the Industrial Coatings business for PPG from 2014 to 2017 and spent 25 years at Dow Corning Corporation in a variety of senior management and commercial roles, including several years in Shanghai, China. Ms. Bausch serves on the board of directors of Kraton Corporation. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Alma College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan – Flint.

Mr. Bowes has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at Axalta since February 2023. He has more than 20 years of progressive operational leadership and strategy experience in the Industrial, Commercial Vehicle, and Automotive markets. Prior to joining Axalta, Mr. Bowes served as SVP and President of Electrification, Industrial, Aftermarket, Purchasing & Supply Chain for Meritor. In this role, he was responsible for the fast-growing electrification business and P&L for Industrial and Aftermarket, as well as overseeing the global supply chain. Prior to that, he served as SVP and President of the Casting Business Unit for American Axle and Manufacturing. He also was CEO and President of Transtar, an Industrial and Automotive Aftermarket company. Prior to that, he held other Executive Leadership roles at ITT Automotive and Intermet. Mr. Bowes has lived and worked in both Asia and the UK. He earned a B.S. in Industrial Management from Lawrence Technological University and an M.B.A. from Wayne State University.

Dr. Roop is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Axalta. He has been with Axalta since 2013 in expanding roles of responsibility in the technology organization. Dr. Roop began at Axalta as Technology Director, North America. He then moved to Germany to lead the Europe, Middle East & Africa technology team. Since then, he has held global technology leadership positions for the Refinish and Industrial businesses. Prior to those roles, Dr. Roop spent more than twenty years in technology and operations positions at DuPont in various polymer and chemical businesses, including DuPont Performance Coatings where he led the global Light Vehicle technology team. Dr. Roop received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from West Virginia University and holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Mr. Tablin-Wolf was appointed as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary effective January 2024. He is responsible for overseeing all of Axalta’s legal affairs, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, compliance, contracts, intellectual property, litigation, environmental and employment matters. Mr. Tablin-Wolf joined Axalta in January 2017, and, prior to his current appointment, served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining Axalta, Mr. Tablin-Wolf was a corporate attorney at Blank Rome LLP and Fox Rothschild LLP, where he concentrated his practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and general corporate counseling. He earned a B.S. in Psychology from Santa Clara University and a J.D., cum laude, from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

Ms. Tufano has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Axalta since September 2023. She has more than 20 years of diverse HR leadership experience with a focus on strategy creation, organizational development, change and talent management, and HR transformation. Ms. Tufano has been with Axalta since 2021, joining the company as Vice President of HR for the global Operations and Technology organizations. Previously, she served in HR leadership roles at Campbell Soup Company and Northrop Grumman. She earned an M.B.A. from Loyola Marymount University and a B.A. in Business Administration from Flagler College.

Mr. Weaver is President, Global Refinish at Axalta and leads the Company’s Refinish strategy and innovation. Prior to this, Mr. Weaver led North America Refinish where he was responsible for Axalta's high performing Refinish Business in the U.S. & Canada. He also led Axalta's initiative to secure and grow market share with multiple location collision shop operators, mega-dealers, and nationally recognized collision shop networks. Mr. Weaver began his career at DuPont Performance Coatings in 1992, holding various Sales and Marketing leadership roles. He is also a two-time recipient of DuPont's Prestigious Marketing Excellence Award, first in 2007 and again in 2010. Mr. Weaver is active in the industry and has served as Chairman of the Board of CIECA (Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association).