James E. BRUNO
President
James E. Bruno joined United States Steel Corporation in December 2014 as senior vice president – Automotive Solutions. Under Mr. Bruno’s leadership, Automotive Solutions collaborated with automotive customers to develop solutions to address challenges facing the industry, including increased fuel economy standards and enhanced safety requirements.
In January 2016, J. Bruno assumed accountability for plant operations at the following facilities, which service the majority of his commercial entities’ customers: Great Lakes Works, including the EGL at Dearborn, Midwest Plant and PRO-TEC Coating Company, a joint venture with Japan’s Kobe Steel. He also assumed oversight of U. S. Steel’s technology and innovation organization.
Before joining U. S. Steel, he spent 20 years with TRW Automotive, a global leader in automotive safety and one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers. During his time at TRW, he advanced through a series of increasingly responsible positions, most recently serving as vice president – North American braking operations and global slip control portfolio. Prior to joining TRW, J. Bruno managed various engineering and engineering technology programs for Eaton Corporation, Robert Bosch Corporation and General Dynamics.
James Bruno earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering technology at Purdue University and has a Master of Business Administration from Wayne State University. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Effective October 1, 2018 he was appointed Vice President – European Solutions and President – U. S. Steel Košice.
Michael Piekut
Deputy President
Michael Piekut began his career at U. S. Steel on January 1, 2001, as a Management Associate at Mon Valley Works, Irvin Plant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2002, he was promoted to the post of Process Leader at the Irvin Plant Hot Strip Mill. From 2003 to 2009, he held several positions in the Cold Mill & Pickle Lines operations at the Irvin plant. In 2009, he was promoted again to Area Operations Manager at the Irvin plant.
In 2013, he moved to the Gary Works Complex, where he held the position of Manager of the Sheet Products Division in the Midwest and East Chicago Tin operations and was in charge of Process Health. In 2016, he was appointed director of the Midwest plant. In 2017, he was promoted to president of the U. S. Steel joint venture, UPI in Pittsburgh, California. Here, Michael had full responsibility for the business, including operations, maintenance, sales and other personnel functions. As President of UPI, Michael Piekut gained experience in the first-class production of flat-rolled steel sheets in various forms, including cold-rolled steel, galvanized steel, and tinplate.
Michael Piekut was born in 1978 and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Silvia GAÁLOVÁ
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Silvia Gaálová graduated at the University of Economics in 1997 and earned a master’s degree in Corporate Economics. Her professional career started in the consultancy companies Arthur Andersen and Deloitte. During this period she completed ACCA certification and became a chartered accountant.
Silvia Gaálová joined U. S. Steel Košice in 2002 as an internal auditor, then worked for several months as project manager on foreign acquisitions. From December 2003 she managed the Consolidation and US GAAP reporting department and in 2005 was promoted to General Manager Accounting. In 2017 she served as General Manager Analysis and Statistics. Effective January 12, 2018 she was appointed U. S. Steel Košice Vice President & Chief Financial Officer.
DAVID HATHAWAY
Vice President Engineering and Innovation
David Hathaway joined U. S. Steel in 2000 in plant engineering and has held increasing responsibilities, including engineering positions at U. S. Steel Košice and our former Serbian operations.
Mr. Hathaway has worked as General Manager - Project Engineering since 2013 and has made substantial contributions to our project execution capabilities, including rebuilding our workforce, improving processes and completing projects.
He has been U. S. Steel Košice Vice President Engineering and Innovation since August 1st, 2015.
MIROSLAV KIRAĽVARGA
Vice President External Affairs, Administration and Business Development
Miroslav Kiraľvarga graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of P. J. Safarik in Košice 1987. Until 1995 he worked at the Physics Department, Technical University Košice, where for two years he was deputy head of department. During the period 1995 - 1997 he worked in turn for Procesna automatizacia VSZ a.s., VSZ Keramika, s.r.o. (General Director’s Assistant) and VSZ a.s. (Vice President’s Office Director).
Mr. Kiraľvarga was appointed Director of Controlling at Stabilita supplementary retirement insurance company in 1998. Towards the end of 1999 he started work as Senior Manager Personnel and Compensation in the VSZ U. S. Steel, s.r.o. joint venture.
During 1998 - 2000 he took the Master of Business Administration program at the University of Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business. In November 2000 he was appointed GM Compensation at U. S. Steel Košice. In March 2003 he took the Management Academy Program at U. S. Steel in Pittsburgh. In the same year he became Vice President Human Resources at U. S. Steel Košice. In November 2005 he successfully completed the U. S. Steel Leadership Development Program. He was appointed Vice President External Services and Administration in 2007.
Mr. Kiraľvarga has been President of the Association of Metallurgy, Mining Industry and Geology of the Slovak Republic, Vice President of the National Employers Association, a member of the Board of Directors of Stabilita, and President of HC Košice ice-hockey club.
In 2011 Mr. Kiraľvarga relocated to USA and took up the position of General Manager - Global Materials Management and Procurement Support at U. S. Steel headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Effective October 1, 2013 he was appointed Vice President External Affairs, Administration and Business Development U. S. Steel Košice and returned to Slovakia. In 2015 he was elected to the position of President of the National Employers Association.
KARL G. KOCSIS
Vice President Human Resources and Transformation
Karl G. Kocsis, joined U. S. Steel in June of 1989, following his graduation from Allegheny College in Meadville Pennsylvania. He progressed through a series of positions in the Pittsburgh Headquarters before becoming a Labor Contract Administrator at the Clairton Plant in 1996. In 2000, he was advanced to the position of Department Manager Labor Relations and Human Resources at the Mon Valley Works where he remined until 2003 when he was relocated to Granite City Works as Director of Employee Relations following the acquisition of National Steel.
In 2005, he transferred to U. S. Steel Kosice as General Manager HR Administration and safety until 2007 when he returned to the United States as the Director of Human Resources at our Great Lakes Works outside Detroit. In 2009, he was promoted to Director of Human Resources for U. S. Steel Tubular Products. In October 2013 he was advanced to his current position as General Manager Human Resources.
He has been U. S. Steel Košice Vice President Human Resources and Transformation since April 1, 2019.
JÚLIUS LANG
Vice President for Sales and Customer Technical Services
Július Lang graduated in 1995 at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice. He began his career as a technologist at the Cold Rolling Mill of VSŽ a.s. Košice. He later went to work first as sales manager and then as managing director and company officer of VSŽ subsidiary Kovostroj Dobšiná. Between 1998 and 2001 he worked in the head office of VSŽ and then for U. S. Steel Košice as company officer and sales director, and since 2001 he has held various management positions, namely General Manager Technical Product Sales, GM Marketing and Strategy and GM Industrial Sales.
Július Lang is also active in international specialist organizations. Back in 2009 he became a member of the board of the European association of coated sheet producers (ECCA), where he also held the post of president. He is also influential in the association of tin-plate manufacturers (APEAL), and for ten years now he has been a member of the executive committee of the automotive industry association (ZAP) in the Slovak Republic.
He assumed his position as Vice President for Sales and Customer Technical Services in July 2019.
MARCEL NOVOSAD
Vice President Operations
Marcel Novosad graduated from the Technical University of Košice in 1992. He studied iron and steel production at the Faculty of Metallurgy and in the same year he started working in the former VSZ. He began as a converter operator and in 1993 he became converter shift supervisor in Steel Shop #1. Three years later he took up the position of secondary metallurgy supervisor, and he was briefly converter lines manager.
In 2002 he became operation manager for Steel Shop #1 and a year later he was appointed manager for production technology at the Steel Shops Division.
In August 2005 he went to the USA, where he worked in several operations of the United States Steel Corporation. First, he was operations manager at the North Steel Shop at Gary Works, and then in 2006 he was promoted to division manager at the North Steel Shop.
In 2007 he accepted the post of Senior Process Leader for converters, ladle furnace and degassing plant at the Edgar Thomson Works. He returned to Košice in 2008, and worked for over a year as Director Blast Furnaces Division. From May 2009 until October 2014 he held the post of General Manager Primary.
He has been U. S. Steel Košice Vice President Operations since November 1st, 2014.
ELENA PETRÁŠKOVÁ
Vice President Energy and General Counsel
Elena Petrášková graduated from law school at the University of P. J. Safarik in Košice in 1992 and joined VSZ the same year as a litigation attorney. In 1993, she moved to the company’s corporate law section and in 1999 advanced to section. She was appointed an assistant general counsel in U. S. Steel Košice’s law department in 2001 with responsibility for the commercial and corporate sections.
In 2005, Mrs. Petrášková accepted a one-year assignment in the law department at U. S. Steel’s corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh.
She returned to Slovakia in 2006 to serve once again as an assistant general counsel at U. S. Steel Košice. In 2007, she relocated to Pittsburgh for a second assignment in the corporate law department. In the same year she was appointed attorney - international law. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2009 with a degree in the Master of Laws Program for Foreign Law Graduates.
She is Vice President and Chairperson of the Committee for Environmental Matters in the National Union of Employers and also a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Metallurgy, Mining and Geology of the Slovak Republic.
Mrs. Petrášková was appointed to the position Vice President External Services and Administration in 2011. She assumed her position as Vice President Subsidiaries and Services at U. S. Steel Košice in October 2013. The position was renamed to Vice President Eneregy and General Counsel in March 2023.