Living Legends: BRUCE COBB GOTTWALD SR.
RETIRED CHAIRMAN, NEWMARKET CORP., RICHMOND
Published
Gottwald is the former CEO of NewMarket Corp., the $2.4 billion parent company of Afton Chemical Corp. and Ethyl Corp.
NewMarket’s history goes back to 1887 as Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Co., which Gottwald’s father, the late Floyd D. Gottwald Sr., led starting in 1941. Two decades later, he acquired Ethyl in a move that was a business turning point.
In 2014, Bruce Gottwald Sr. retired as chairman of the board, a position now held by his son, NewMarket President and CEO Thomas E. “Teddy” Gottwald.
Graduates of Virginia Military Institute, Bruce Gottwald and his late brother, Floyd D. Gottwald Jr., received the General Assembly’s Outstanding Virginian Award in 2017.
A former member of VMI’s board of visitors, Gottwald has been honored for his support of history and preservation. After serving on the board of trustees for the Civil War Trust, the organization presented him with its lifetime achievement award in 2017, citing Gottwald as a driving force behind Tredegar Iron Works, the American Civil War Center and preserving Richmond National Battlefield Park.
