A. O. Smith Corporation announced that executive chairman Ajita Rajendra will be retiring effective May 1, 2020. The Company's Board of Directors has elected Kevin J. Wheeler as chairman of the Milwaukee-based water technology company effective upon Rajendra's retirement. Wheeler will continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of the company. Rajendra will remain a member of the company's Board of Directors. Ajita has been an inspiring and visionary leader since the moment he joined the company in 2005 to run A. O. Smith's water products division, as well as during his time at the helm of A. O. Smith as chief executive officer and president from 2013 to 2018. Rajendra was named executive chairman of the corporation in September 2018 as he continued to lead the company's Board of Directors. In addition to the A. O. Smith Board, Rajendra is a member of the Board of Directors of Donaldson Company and the Timken Company. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lubar School of Business, the Board of Trustees of Alverno College in Milwaukee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. Wheeler is a member of the Business Roundtable, Manufacturers Association of Productivity Improvement (MAPI) division leadership council and the President's Roundtable. He has served as an at-large director of the Air-conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).