U. S. Steel Appoints George F. Babcoke Senior Vice President-European Operations and President-U. S. Steel Kosice

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Steel Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John P. Surma today announced that George F. Babcoke has been appointed senior vice president- European Operations and president-U. S. Steel Kosice, s.r.o. Babcoke succeeds David H. Lohr, who was named senior vice president-North American flat-roll operations earlier today. (More detailed background on David Lohr was included in A press release issued earlier today.) In his new role, Babcoke will oversee U. S. Steel's two European operations: U. S. Steel Kosice in the Slovak Republic and U. S. Steel Serbia in the Republic of Serbia. Babcoke will report to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John H. Goodish. The change is effective March 1.

"Over the last three years, Dave led our European operations through a period of dramatic growth and change," Surma said. "Under his leadership, we built a new hot-dip galvanizing line in Slovakia, rebuilt and restarted a blast furnace in Serbia that had been idle for 18 years, and made numerous other operational and environmental investments. Even more important, however, were the continued improvements in each location's safety performance. We are confident that George's extensive steel industry background, strong leadership skills, and intense focus on safety and environmental stewardship will be tremendous assets to our European operations and their efforts to supply world-class, value-added steel products to our Central European customers."

Babcoke, 51, and a native of Northwest Indiana, began his career with U. S. Steel in 1976 as a laborer in the general services department at Gary Works in Gary, Ind. He later became a lineman in the energy division. He moved into management in 1981, supervising electrical power distribution for the plant's sheet finishing operations, and in 1987, after a series of positions with increasing responsibilities, he became area manager of maintenance at Gary Works' hot strip mill. In 1990, he was named division manager of hot rolling. He was named division manager of operations services in 1994 and advanced to plant manager of finishing operations in 1995.

Babcoke left Gary Works in 1997 when he was appointed vice president of operations at a joint-venture partnership, USS/Kobe Steel Company in Lorain, Ohio. He later assumed the title of president. In 1999, after the operations of USS/Kobe and two other companies were combined to form Republic Technologies International, he was named executive vice president and general manager of hot rolled bar operations.

Babcoke returned to U. S. Steel in 2001 when he was appointed general manager of Gary Works. In 2004, he relocated to the company's corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh when he was appointed managing director - engineering & technology. He was elected to his current post, vice president- plant operations, in 2005, assuming executive oversight of the company's North American operating facilities.

Babcoke holds a bachelor's degree in organizational management from Calumet College and a master's degree in management from National-Louis University. He and his wife, Kathleen, will relocate to Slovakia.

For more information about U. S. Steel, visit http://www.ussteel.com/.