Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> November 28, 2000
RICHARD W. BETHEA, JR. is Executive Vice President/Administration and
Secretary of Astec Industries, Inc. in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Astec is
a publicly traded company that is one of the world's leading
manufacturers of equipment for asphalt road construction, aggregate
processing and pipeline and utility excavation. Before joining Astec in
February 1997, Mr. Bethea was in private practice for 19 years,
specializing in product liability defense and complex business
litigation. He served as national litigation counsel for a number of
companies and was head of the litigation department of Stophel &
Stophel, P.C. in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He also served as co-chair of
the Litigation Section of Commercial Law Affiliates. Mr. Bethea received
his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and his Law degree
from the University of Georgia. In 1984, he was certified as a
specialist in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial
Advocacy. He is licensed to practice in both Tennessee and Georgia and
is admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, the US Courts of
Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh and Federal
Circuits, and numerous federal district courts around the country. Mr.
Bethea is a member of Litigation and Torts and Insurance Practice
Sections of the ABA, the Tennessee Bar Association, the State Bar of
Georgia, the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association, the Defense Research
Institute and the Christian Legal Society. Profile
Mr. Bethea: Astec Industries, Inc. was founded in 1972, to design,
manufacture and sell hot-mix asphalt plants for the
