AISI Officers

Lourenco Goncalves

Chairman, AISI
Chairman, President and CEO,
Cleveland-Cliffs


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LOURENCO GONCALVES has been Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland-Cliffs since August 2014. He designed and led the company through a major strategic initiative transforming Cleveland-Cliffs into a leading player in the U.S. steel industry, starting with a complete financial turnaround, followed by growth initiatives in the metallics market and the entry into the steel business. In 2017, Cliffs started the construction in Toledo, Ohio of the world’s most modern Direct Reduction plant, which started operations in November 2020. Mr. Goncalves led the acquisition of AK Steel in March 2020, followed by the acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA in December 2020. With these two major acquisitions, Cleveland-Cliffs is now the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in the United States and in North America, holding an industry-leading market position in automotive steel. With the Toledo plant, Cleveland-Cliffs became the sole producer in the Great Lakes region of hot briquetted iron (HBI), an environmentally friendly metallic feedstock designed to reduce GHG emissions.

Prior to Cleveland-Cliffs, Mr. Goncalves served as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Metals USA Holdings Corp., a leading American manufacturer and processor of steel and other metals, for over 10 years. Prior to Metals USA, Mr. Goncalves served as President and Chief Executive Officer of California Steel Industries, Inc. for 5 years. Prior to that, he was employed by Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), a major steel and mining company in Brazil, where he held several positions in operations and sales. From October 2011 to April 2014, Mr. Goncalves was a board member of Ascometal SAS, a manufacturer of special steel headquartered in Paris, France.

Mr. Goncalves is a Distinguished Member and Fellow of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST). He was the recipient of AIST’s Steelmaker of the Year Award for the year 2021.  Mr. Goncalves serves on the Board and is a vice-chairman at the American Iron and Steel Institute. He currently serves on the Board for the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). In 2021, S&P Global Platts presented Mr. Goncalves with the CEO/Chairperson of the Year Global Metals Award, which honors a leader who is highly respected by both peers and competitors, admired and followed by employees, trusted by investors and welcomed by the community. Under Mr. Goncalves’ leadership, Cleveland-Cliffs also garnered top Global Metals Awards as the Metal Company of the Year and the Deal of the Year.

Mr. Goncalves earned a Master of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Military Institute of Engineering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kevin Dempsey

President and CEO, AISI


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KEVIN DEMPSEY is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute, representing the interests of American steel producers. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Public Policy and General Counsel to the Institute for the past 11 years during which AISI achieved key policy successes; including: implementation of Section 232 trade remedies to preserve the steel industry’s key role in national and economic security, the enactment of historic legislation to strengthen trade laws, successful infrastructure initiatives to benefit the steel industry and numerous measures that enhance steel manufacturing competitiveness.

Before joining AISI, Dempsey was a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf, a global law firm. Dempsey litigated numerous international trade cases on behalf of U.S. steel producers and other U.S. industries before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. courts. He served as counsel to several U.S. steel producers in the successful Section 201 investigation on steel products.

Dempsey also previously served as counsel to Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO) and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. While on the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, he participated in the development of the acid rain cap-and-trade system established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Later, while serving on Senator Danforth’s personal staff and again on the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, he played a key role in the drafting of the implementing legislation for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the GATT Uruguay Round Trade Agreements.

Dempsey has, and continues to, work extensively on international trade negotiations given his considerable experience with U.S. and international law related to subsidies, trade remedies, market access, intellectual property rights, and product standards, as well as U.S. legislative procedures for authorizing and implementing trade agreements.

Dempsey received his Juris Doctor Degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington University in St. Louis.