Aspen Aerogels, Inc., a technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions, today announced the appointment of Virginia H. Johnson as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Johnson will report to Don Young, Aspen’s President, and Chief Executive Officer.
With 20 years of senior legal experience, Ms. Johnson brings a broad range of legal and business acumen to Aspen. She joins the Company from Schneider Electric North America, a global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and industrial automation, where she served as General Counsel. Prior to her tenure with Schneider, Ms. Johnson served in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility in the legal department of Global Atlantic Financial Group, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Legal, Associate General Counsel & Secretary. As Head of Corporate Legal at Global Atlantic, she held responsibility for enterprise-wide commercial contracting and licensing; corporate governance and regulatory compliance; M&A, transactional work and business integration; intellectual property; legal oversight of cybersecurity, incident response, data privacy/protection, and third party risk; litigation management; and employment law, HR support, and executive compensation.
Before joining Global Atlantic, Ms. Johnson was a partner in the Litigation Department of Prince Lobel Tye LLP where her practice concentrated primarily on defending investment firms, private equity funds, and institutional lenders in complex commercial litigation and class actions in federal and state courts. Prior to that, from 2002 to 2011, she was an Associate in the Litigation/Regulatory Department, Securities/Corporate Governance Group, in the New York and Boston offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where her practice focused on securities class action defense, shareholder derivative litigation, regulatory enforcement, corporate governance counseling and internal investigations on behalf of major publicly-traded corporations, privately-held entities, large-bracket investment funds, and banking institutions.
Mr. Young commented, “Ginny joins our management team at an important stage in the Company’s development, and we are very pleased to have attracted a professional of her caliber as our General Counsel. She is joining an outstanding group of lawyers at Aspen. She is a smart, articulate, and creative leader, and her depth of experience in corporate strategy and legal operations makes her an ideal addition to Aspen’s executive team. Her strong commitment to sustainability and diversity is solidly aligned with Aspen’s priorities. I look forward to her counsel and insight, which I am confident will benefit Aspen and its shareholders.”
“Joining Aspen as its Chief Legal Officer is a tremendous honor, and I am grateful to Don and the Board for entrusting me with this opportunity,” said Ms. Johnson. “I am very impressed with the Aspen team, its long track record of success, and the vast opportunity that lies ahead to drive Aspen’s growth and its innovation-focused sustainability mission. I look forward to contributing to the long-term success of the Company.”
