Top Executives at Toshiba Irvine Unit Include Its First American

IRVINE —  Toshiba Corp. has named a chairman and chief executive for its electronics unit in Irvine and for the first time has appointed an American as president.

Takeshi Nakagawa, formerly general manager for sales and Takeshi Nakagawa marketing for Toshiba’s Semiconductor Group in Tokyo, has been named to the new position of chairman and chief executive officer of Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. in Irvine. He has held various positions with Toshiba since 1964.

Bob Brown, who was executive vice president of the Irvine company’s semiconductor group, moves up to president and chief operating officer.

The moves signify Toshiba’s recognition of the importance of the U.S. market to the company’s worldwide components business, said Masanobu Ohyama, a Toshiba executive vice president and director. Toshiba America Electronic has 2,558 employees, and its consolidated sales reached $2.47 billion last year. The president had been the highest-ranking officer in the Irvine company.

The company is the North American engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing arm of the corporation, which makes semiconductors, integrated circuits and electronic components for industrial and consumer use.