Leadership

Dr. Kathleen Havelka joined Advancion in April 2021 and has overall responsibility for leading the Company’s global Research, Development and Applications (RD&A) group and innovation pipeline. She is a chemical industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience in numerous leadership roles in global specialty chemical and industrial products organizations.

Dr. Havelka joined Advancion from Fuchs Lubricants Company (FLC) where she most recently served as Senior Director of R&D and Quality Control, leading FLC’s technical team in the development and launch of a broad portfolio of high performing fluid and grease technologies. Prior to FLC, she held significant leadership roles in R&D as well as sales and marketing at Elevance Renewable Sciences, Diversey (Johnson-Diversey) and Lubrizol Corporation. She is the inventor on six patents, co-edited three books, authored five book chapters, 35 articles, and presented over 30 invited talks. She has been a member of Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) and American Chemical Society (ACS) boards and has received numerous awards. She was recently recognized by STLE with the Frontiers Award for Advances in Wind Turbine Lubrication. She is an ACS Fellow for her outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society (a recognition for up to 1% of the ACS membership).

Dr. Havelka holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Elmhurst College and a doctorate in chemistry from Northern Illinois University. She also is a Certified Quality Management Lead Auditor for ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016.