Ajita Rajendra Biography and Net Worth

Mr. Rajendra was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2011 and served as Executive Chairman from September 2018 until his retirement in May 2020. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in April 2014.

Prior to becoming CEO, he was President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the company’s water heater operations in North America, China, Europe and India, as well as the company’s water purification business in China and the Lochinvar, LLC, global boiler business. Mr. Rajendra joined A. O. Smith as President of its Water Products Company in January 2005 and was named an Executive Vice President of the Corporation in 2006; President and Chief Operating Officer in 2011; President and CEO in 2013; Chairman, President and CEO in 2014; and Chairman and CEO in 2017. Prior to joining A. O. Smith, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Industrial Products Group of Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, Pa., a manufacturer of high precision cutting tools used in aerospace, automotive and other industrial applications. Mr. Rajendra began his career in 1978 with Corning Incorporated, Corning, N.Y., holding a wide range of financial, marketing and executive management positions, including President of the Revere Ware Corporation and global P&L responsibility for Corning’s Pyrex and Corning Ware businesses and Corning’s retail operations.

Mr. Rajendra earned a BS in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University. He also graduated from the AMP program at the Harvard Business School. He is also a director of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI) and The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR), and a member of the Business Roundtable, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), a member of the Board of Trustees of Alverno College in Milwaukee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.