John M. Rovison

John Rovison is a chemical engineer with over 35 years in the industry, and vice president of research and development at PeroxyChem LLC, where he handles process management and research for all products, development and applications. He holds patents in a number of  chemical products and applications, and has achieved success with industrial processes and management techniques. Mr. Rovison is a member of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership Manufacturing Council and mentors engineers and scientists within and outside of the R&D group.

Mr. Rovison attended Washington University (St. Louis) as a dual degree candidate in biology and chemical engineering. He joined FMC Corporation’s Agricultural Chemical Group (ACG) in Middleport, New York. ACG was a manufacturer of technical pesticides for commercial farming.  In 1986, Mr. Rovison earned a Master of Science in Cancer Biology from Niagara University of New York, taught high school physics in the interim period and later went on earn the FMC’s Ag Chem Group Technology Award for innovations to an off-shore manufacturing facility. During this period he managed contract manufacturing and performed process development work including transferring technology into FMC’s facilities.  Mr. Rovison transferred into the Peroxide Division of FMC Industrial Chemicals in late 1990.

As a production manager with FMC Industrial Chemicals, Mr. Rovison has earned a 2002 Safety Leadership Achievement Award and a 1996 Environmental Achievement Award. He led the effort to implement the first unionized empowered work system in the company, authored corporate standards for the storage and handling of ammonia, and led training initiatives for customers regarding the handling & storage of reactive products. Mr. Rovison was promoted to technical manager of product and applications in 2006, where he served until moving on to director of FMC-PXD Global Technology in 2012. In 2014, the hydrogen peroxide and persulfates arm of FMC was purchased by One Equity Partners, renamed as PeroxyChem, LLC and named Mr. Rovison as vice president of research and development.

As a leader in chemical manufacturing and engineering management, Mr. Rovison is proud of redesigning a Brazilian insecticide formulating plant to remediate a dust explosion hazard. He has also designed low risk plastic tote delivery systems for peracids, converted waste streams into environmental treatment products, and reduced thermal hazards associated with persulfates production. and electronics industries with his team while supporting the technical aspects of manufacturing operations including bulk transport of peracids.

Mr. Rovison is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the National Fire Prevention Association (2006-2013), and the American Chemical Society. He held a seat with the FMC Technology Council until 2014. In addition to management, Mr. Rovison has served as a member of the new products evaluation board for the “Chemical Engineering” magazine from McGraw Hill (1983-1984). For many years of dedication in the chemical engineering industry, Mr. Rovison was selected for inclusion in numerous volumes of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business, as well as two volumes of Who’s Who in the East and the 1998 to 1999 volume of Who’s Who in Finance and Industry. He was a former member of the Resolve through Sharing Parents Group in Williamsville, New York, where he and his wife Janet Marie helped others come to terms with loss. The couple had a son, Kevin Michael, now deceased.