Richard C. Ernest
President
Crown Metal Manufacturing Co.

Richard Ernest is president of a metal manufacturer Crown Metal Manufacturing Co., a position he has held since 1984. He joined Crown Metal in 1981 following a ten-year stint involving 14 promotions and eight relocations at ICI Americas in Wilmington, Del., where he last served as sales manager of the company’s Petro Chemical division. He earned a degree in chemistry from Bucknell University in 1970 and an M.B.A. from Fordham University in 1974.
 
Ernest has been active in A.R.E. for many years, with previous service to the A.R.E. Board of Directors in the 1980s. He also has served as chair of A.R.E.’s General Management and Insurance committees and as a member of the Financial Committee. He was president of A.R.E. for four years, from 1999 to 2002.  He currently serves on the Tau Kappa Epsilon Educational Foundation Board of Directors as vice-chairman, is vice president of the Bucknell Tau Kappa Epsilon Board of Directors, serves in the Bucknell Alumni Association of Greater Chicago, and is a board member of another fixture manufacturer, CORAL Chemical Co. and was most recently chairman of Varon Lighting's Board of Directors.