Kimberly-Clark has announced that chief executive officer, Michael D. Hsu, has been elected to the additional role of chairman of the company’s board of directors effective January 1, 2020. Hsu succeeds Thomas J. Falk, who plans to retire from the company and the board at the end of the year after serving as chairman for the past 16 years.

“As part of the board’s ongoing focus on succession planning, both Hsu and Falk have worked closely with the board to plan this transition. Since joining the board in 2017, Hsu has demonstrated strong leadership of Kimberly-Clark’s business and championed a strategy to deliver balanced, sustainable growth. We are confident that Hsu will do an excellent job leading our board,” Ian Read, independent lead director of the company said in a company press release.