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U. S. Steel Announces Top-Level Changes at Fairfield Works
12/10/2008 - ABSTRACT: United States Steel announces new General Manager of Fairfield Works to replace Merle Stein, who will retire after 38 years of service with the company.
United States Steel Corp. has appointed Ladislav Halaj as General Manager of Fairfield Works, succeeding Merle Stein, who will retire after 38 years of service with the company.
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As the new General Manager of Fairfield Works, Halaj succeeds Merle Stein, who is retiring after 38 years of service with the company.
"Throughout his long and distinguished career, Merle has played essential roles in some of our company's most important milestones, including being part of the first post-acquisition management teams at both U. S. Steel Kosice and Granite City Works," said Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John H. Goodish.
Stein began his U. S. Steel career in 1970 at the company's former National Plant in McKeesport, Pa. He was transferred to Fairfield Works in 1984, where he held several positions in tubular and sheet operations, including management of the $70-million hot strip mill modernization project in 1987. He served as Manager of the seamless tubular mill from 1994 to 2001, establishing new records for safety, shipment, production and yield.
As U. S. Steel acquired major operations domestically and in Central Europe, Stein helped manage the transition, beginning in 2001 when he became Vice President of Operations at U. S. Steel Kosice following acquisition of the facility in late 2000.
Stein later served on U. S. Steel's transition team for acquiring National Steel assets. Once the acquisition was finalized, he was named General Manager of Granite City Works in Granite City, Ill., one of the four operations included in the purchase. He was later named General Manager at Fairfield Works, a position he has held since March 2006.
Stein earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
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"With proven abilities as both an operator and a manager at some of U. S. Steel's largest facilities, we are confident that Ladislav will be able to build on the high standards established at Fairfield Works during Merle's tenure," said Goodish.
Halaj, 47 and a native of Kosice, Slovakia, began his steelmaking career in 1987 as a hydraulic system specialist in the cold mills and pickling lines at VSZ a.s. In 1992, he left VSZ to work for other steel companies including Sidor in Venezuela. In 1998, Halaj was appointed Manager—Mechanical Maintenance of VSZ U. S. Steel, a.s., a joint venture of U. S. Steel and VSZ, and was named Deputy Operations Director in 1999. He was advanced to General Manager—Central Maintenance U. S. Steel Kosice in 2000, the year U. S. Steel acquired the steelmaking operations of VSZ. Halaj was appointed General Manager—Finishing in 2003.
In 2005, Halaj moved to the United States when he was named division manager-sheet products at U. S. Steel's Midwest Plant, a finishing facility in Portage, Ind. He advanced to division manager-sheet products at Gary Works in 2006 and was appointed to his most recent position, plant manager-finishing operations at Gary Works, in 2007.
Halaj is a 1986 graduate of the Mechanical Faculty of the Technical University of Kosice. He and his wife, Maria Halajova, and their two children will relocate to the Fairfield area.
