PETER C. BROWNING joined Sonoco Products Company October 1993 as
Executive Vice President in charge of the company’s global industrial
products and paper divisions. In February 1996 he was promoted to the
position of President and Chief Operating Officer, and in April 1998, to
the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. Sonoco is a
worldwide, vertically integrated packaging company serving customers
with a diverse array of industrial and consumer packaging products. The
company operates facilities at more than 270 locations in 31 countries
with approximately 17,000 team members. Founded in 1899 as the Southern
Novelty Company, Sonoco is headquartered in Hartsville, SC. Mr. Browning
has a wide range of experience in both consumer and industrial
businesses. He spent 24 years with Continental Can Company, serving as
President of Continental’s Bondware and White Cap divisions and later as
the company’s Executive Vice President, responsible for six operating
divisions. He joined National Gypsum Company in 1989, where he served as
President of the Gold Bond Division. In September 1990, he was elected
President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of National Gypsum
Company. A 1963 graduate of Colgate University with an BA in History, he
earned his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1976. He has lectured
at Harvard Business School, where a case study was prepared regarding
his success in affecting changes at Continental’s White Cap Division. A
case study has also been written on his experience at National Gypsum
for use at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of North Carolina. Mr.
Browning is a Charter Member of the Board of Visitors of the McColl
School of Business at Queens College; a member of the Board of Visitors
of Davidson College; a member of the Board of Trustees of Coker College;
a member of The University of Chicago, Council on the Graduate School of
Business; The Conference Board; and serves on the Executive Committee of
the National Association of Manufacturers. He is a member of the Board
of Directors of Sonoco Products Company, Wachovia Corporation, Nucor
Corporation and Lowe’s Companies, Inc. He is currently serving on the
Executive Board of the Pee Dee Area Council of Boy Scouts of America,
the Board of Darlington County Communities in Schools, The South
Carolina Business Center for Excellence of Education, The Palmetto
Conservation Foundation, and the Board of Trustees, Presbyterian
Hospital Foundation.
