GLENVIEW, IL – ITW chairman and CEO David B. Speer has passed away from cancer. He was 61.

Speer joined ITW in 1978 and served in a number of selling, marketing, and management positions. In 2005, he was elected chief executive and in 2006 assumed the additional responsibilities as chairman of the board of directors. Speer had been on medical leave since October.

Effective immediately, E. Scott Santi, 51, has been elected chief executive to succeed Speer. He was elected president and chief operating officer in October, and had been acting chief executive officer since that time.

Robert S. Morrison, 70, has been elected non-executive chairman of the board of directors. He was named acting non-executive chairman in October and has been an independent director since 2003.

Santi joined ITW in 1983 and has spent his entire career with the company. He was elected executive vice president in 2004 and vice chairman in 2008.  He also serves as a director of W.W. Grainger. Santi graduated from the University of Illinois in 1983 with a bachelor's in accounting, and received a masters in business administration from Northwestern in 1992.