The Timken Company has appointed new leaders to the following positions: president of the company’s China business; managing director and director of manufacturing operations in India; vice president - quality advancement; and senior vice president of planning and development.

Philip D. Fracassa was appointed senior vice president of planning and development. In this position, Fracassa leads the company in developing enterprise strategy, including identification and evaluation of growth opportunities. He reports to Glenn Eisenberg, executive vice president of finance and administration for Timken.

Fracassa joined Timken in 2005 as vice president of tax. In 2006, he was promoted to senior vice president of tax and treasury. Since 2010, Fracassa has held the position of senior vice president and controller of the company’s Bearings and Power Transmission Group.

Fracassa holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a juris doctor degree in law from the University of Detroit. Active in community affairs, he currently serves on the boards of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

The company also announced the appointment of Ajay Das to the position of vice president – quality advancement. In his new role, Das is responsible for the company’s quality management systems and quality assurance. Das will report to Christopher A. Coughlin, group president.

Das most recently held the position as managing director and director of manufacturing for the company’s business in India where he was named one of India’s most valued industrial business leaders by Business World magazine in 2011. He joined Timken in 1992. During his 20-year career, he served as national sales manager for India. Das was named director of manufacturing at the company’s plant in Jamshedpur, India, in 2001. He later served as director of new business development in Asia and was based in Shanghai. From 2007 to 2009, he served as general manager for wind energy based in Canton, Ohio.

Das holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Jamshedpur and a master’s degree in business from Xavier Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur.

Sanjay Koul assumes position of managing director and director of manufacturing operations in India. In his new role, Koul is responsible for Timken India’s operational and financial performance as well as manufacturing operations in India. He reports to J. Ron Menning, senior vice president of Asia Pacific.

Koul joined Timken in India in 1990 as a production engineer at the company’s manufacturing facility in Jamshedpur, India. He subsequently held various leadership positions including national sales manager for the company’s rail business, plant manager in Jamshedpur and general manager of Asia’s supply chain based in Wuxi, China. He most recently held the position as director of manufacturing and supply chain for the company’s business in Asia operating from Shanghai, China.

Koul holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani and a master’s degree in business from Xavier Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur.

Peter M. Sproson was appointed to the position of president for the company’s China business, succeeding Leong Fang, who plans to retire at the end of the year after a 28-year career at the company. In this role, Sproson will lead the Timken business in China, the company’s second-largest geographic sales region, and report to J. Ron Menning, senior vice president, Asia-Pacific.

Sproson most recently held the position of vice president – mobile industries within the Bearings and Power Transmissions segment. He joined the company in 1978 as a sales engineer in Europe and continued to advance his career in a variety of sales and marketing management positions. From 2003 to 2005, Sproson served as director of automotive sales in Europe and was named vice president of commercial transportation systems for Mobile Industries in 2009. He holds a bachelor’s degree of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Aston in Birmingham, Great Britain, and completed INSEAD’s International Executive program and the University of Virginia Darden School’s EDGE executive development program.

Fang retires after a long career, advancing to hold leadership positions in the United States and in Asia. Since starting his career in 1984, Fang held various management positions in engineering and sales, advancing to vice president in 1997 and general manager in 2005 of Timken’s aerospace business. Fang served as vice president of sales and marketing in China before being named to his current position as president of China in 2007. Fang is a member of U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) Management Board and a board member of Junior Achievement China. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and applied machinery from the University of Rhode Island.