Kaiser Cement Chairman Will Retire in March

Walter E. Ousterman Jr., chairman, president and chief executive of Kaiser Cement Corp., announced that he will retire in early March.

His retirement after 11 years as president will follow the Oakland company’s pending merger with a subsidiary of Hanson Group (USA) Ltd. Ousterman will serve as a consultant to Hanson for an unspecified period.

Ousterman, 56, also announced that John H. Wimberly, the company’s chief operating officer, will succeed him as president and chief executive.

Ousterman started as a production assistant at the company’s Permanente plant near San Jose. He was elected vice president of the international division in 1968, executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1971 and a director in 1972.

He became president and chief executive in 1976 and was elected chairman in 1979.

During Ousterman’s tenure as president, Kaiser Cement sold its former gypsum operations and undertook a $300-million modernization and expansion of its cement plants.