BWXT names general counsel

Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has promoted Ronald O. “Chip” Whitford Jr. to senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, the Fortune 1000 federal contractor announced Wednesday.

The promotion was effective Tuesday. Whitford, who joined BWXT in 2017 and has most recently served as vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, replaced Thomas E. McCabe, who will retire Aug. 1. McCabe will serve as special adviser to BWXT CEO and President Rex Geveden until his retirement.

In his new role, Whitford will be responsible for BWXT’s legal, ethics and compliance functions and serve as an executive liaison and secretary to the board of directors.

“As a part of our succession planning process, we are extremely fortunate to have someone of Chip’s caliber and experience fully ready to take on this crucial position for BWXT,” Geveden said in a statement. “We wish Tom McCabe, our outgoing general counsel, all the best in retirement and appreciate him staying with us in an advisory capacity through July 2023.”

Whiffed served as in-house counsel for companies in the manufacturing, financial services and software industries prior to joining BWXT. He served as general counsel and secretary of Tasty Baking Co., which makes Tastykake snacks; vice president, legal and assistant secretary of financial services company PHH Corp.; associate general counsel and assistant secretary of tobacco manufacturer Lorillard Inc.; and group vice president, associate general counsel and assistant secretary of Rimini Street Inc., which provides third-party software support.

Whitford began his legal career in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and English from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

This is the second job-related announcement for BWXT in 2023. On Jan. 2, the company announced that it had named Omar Meguid as a senior vice president and to the new role of chief digital officer.