Ajita G. Rajendra

Ajita G. Rajendra Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
A. O. Smith Corporation

Ajita G. Rajendra, serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS), a global water technology company and manufacturer of residential and commercial water heating and water purification equipment, based in Milwaukee.

Rajendra was elected to the board of directors of The Timken Company in 2014. He brings to the board his extensive manufacturing and international experience leading businesses and negotiating acquisitions and joint ventures.

Rajendra has held a wide range of finance, operations, marketing and executive management positions throughout his 35+ year career and has broad experience serving on corporate boards. He currently serves on the board of Donaldson Company, Inc., a manufacturer of filtration products based in Minneapolis. He previously was a director of Industrial Distribution Group, Inc., from 2007 until its acquisition by Eiger Holdco, LLC in 2008.

He started his career in 1978 with Corning Incorporated in Corning, N.Y., where he held a wide range of financial and executive management positions, including president of the Revere Ware Corporation. Prior to joining A. O. Smith in 2005, he served as senior vice president and general manager of the Industrial Products Group at Kennametal Inc., in Latrobe, Pa.

Rajendra serves on the Timken board’s Audit and Compensation committees.