Rogers Corp. is announcing the appointment of Michael D. Bessette, vice president, to head up its Advanced Circuit Materials Division (ACMD) in Chandler, AZ, effective July 10, 2008.

Bessette comes to the ACMD from Rogers’ Durel Division, also located in Chandler, where he was responsible for the Durel Division’s global electroluminescent backlighting business for the past five years. A 33-year veteran of Rogers Corp., he worked previously at Rogers’ R&D department in Connecticut, where he was responsible for new product development and business commercialization, and also in Japan, where he headed up Rogers’ joint venture with INOAC Corp., which manufactures Rogers’ elastomer materials.

Rogers’ ACM Division manufactures high performance laminates and thin dielectric circuit materials for use in high frequency applications in a variety of global industries, including wireless base station, defense/aerospace, automotive, high speed digital and advanced chip packaging. The Division operates ISO 9002 manufacturing facilities in the US and Belgium and has broken ground on a site in Suzhou, China. ACMD customers include PCB fabricators and OEMs of specialty electronic applications.

“Mike Bessette brings his extensive experience in R&D and with Durel Division to the Advanced Circuits Materials Division at a critical time,” said Robert Wachob, president and CEO of Rogers Corp., “as we strive to accelerate the Division’s growth and product diversification. We will look to Mike’s leadership in developing next generation high frequency materials and in successfully navigating fast changing established markets as well as emerging new ones.”