Barrie succeeds David Unger, who served as chairman of the board since 1989 and who will remain as a director of MFRI.
Dennis Kessler, lead independent director since 2009, will also continue to serve on MFRI’s board.
Barrie is principal of Barrie International LLC, which provides strategic and operational consulting to companies in the US and abroad.
MFRI CEO Bradley Mautner said: “This transition demonstrates MFRI’s commitment to a number of core values, including succession planning and continuous improvement of our board practices. David Barrie has been a director of MFRI since 2012 and, through his broad range of domestic and international experience, has consistently offered valuable advice and counsel. He brings a superb blend of strategic, operational and M&A experience to his new role.”
Paying tribute to Unger, Mautner added: “David Unger’s service to MFRI spans almost six decades. It would be impossible to overstate his impact on the company and the contributions he has made. During his tenure with MFRI and its predecessors, MFRI grew from a local Chicago-area company to a global enterprise; from 60 employees to more than 1200; and from sales of less than US$5 million to US$195 million in fiscal 2014/5. I want to express our heartfelt thanks to David for his tremendous contributions and dedication to our business. We will continue to benefit from his deep experience and insights into MFRI’s operations and strategies.”