Nishan Vartanian

Cranberry-based global safety equipment manufacturer MSA Safety on Tuesday named a new president and chief executive officer.

Nishan Vartanian, the company’s COO and president, was elected CEO and president by MSA’s board of directors, the company said in a news release.

Vartanian’s election is part of a “planned management succession” announced last December. He will replace William Lambert, current CEO, who on Tuesday was elected to the position of non-executive chairman.

Lambert will retire from MSA as an “active full-time employee” at the end of May, according to the company’s statement. He has served as MSA’s CEO since 2008 and chairman since 2015.

Vartanian, 58, is the 104-year-old company’s ninth CEO. Lambert, in a statement, called him “a proven leader who is ideally suited to lead MSA into its second century of business.”

Lambert also praised Vartanian’s “great strategic vision,” and his “growth-focused mindset” as hallmarks of his business acumen.

Vartanian joined MSA in 1985 as a sales intern. He went on to hold a variety of positions within MSA over the course of 33 years, including U.S. national sales manager, director of North America commercial sales and distribution, vice president and global business leader for MSA’s fixed gas and flame detection business, and vice president of MSA North American.

Vartanian earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1983. He also serves on the board of trustees for the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, and is a volunteer for the nonprofit Woodlands Foundation.

Robert Bruggeworth, lead independent director for MSA’s board, said Vartanian has the board’s full confidence moving forward.

“(W)e have an experience and dynamic leader in whom I and our entire Board have full confidence,” Bruggeworth said in a statement Tuesday.

Vartanian and his wife, Pam, live in Seven Fields.

Lambert and his wife, Sandy, live in Cranberry Township.