Walter Industries Inc. has named Raymond P. Torok as president of its U.S. Pipe & Foundry subsidiary. Torok has recently been an operating partner with a private equity firm, Red Diamond Capital.

His more recognizable experience has been as president and CEO of Cold Metal Products, a Youngstown, OH-based chain of steel processing operations, from1994 through 2003. On leaving CMP he served as interim president of a precision castings foundry, Golden Casting Corp.

Torok also has executive experience with Philadelphia Gear Corp. and Alcoa, where he was v.p. and general manager of Alcoa Aerospace.

He will begin with U.S. Pipe on August 4, replacing Walter Indusries v.p. and controller Charles Cauthen, who has headed the organization on an interim basis.

According to Walter chairman and CEO Don DeFosset, "We are pleased that Ray is assuming leadership of our U.S. Pipe subsidiary. He brings decades of experience in the manufacturing industry and has a long track record of managing and improving operations, while also consistently increasing sales and enhancing profitability.

"Ray's managerial and manufacturing expertise will help U.S. Pipe seize on the growth opportunities in the industry," DeFosset said.