NORCROSS, Georgia -- The planned spinoff of WestRock Co.'s chemical business is advancing.

The paper and packaging company named a board of directors this week for its Ingevity division, which is preparing to become an independent public company.

The seven-member panel will be chaired by former Alcoa finance chief Richard Kelson. He is now president and CEO of New York-based ServCo LLC, which supplies goods and services for small- and medium-size businesses. Kelson also was a director at former Ingevity owner MeadWestvaco Corp. and its predecessor from 2001 to 2015.

"Our newly appointed board is comprised of senior executives with diverse functional strengths and outstanding leadership experience in specialty chemicals and industrial markets," Ingevity CEO Michael Wilson said in a statement. "I am looking forward to working with this distinguished group to establish Ingevity as a leader in specialty chemicals and high-performance carbon materials and technologies."

Wilson, who joined the company Sept. 1, also has seat on the board.

The other directors are: Jean Blackwell, a former executive with diesel engine maker Cummins Inc.; Luis Fernandez-Moreno, senior vice president of chemical maker Ashland Inc.; J. Michael Fitzpatrick, former CEO of Citadel Plastics Holding Inc., a provider of thermoplastic and engineered composite compounds; Frederick Lynch, CEO and director of Masonite International Corp., a maker of interior doors and entry-door systems; and Daniel Sansone, a former executive with Vulcan Materials Co., a producer of construction aggregates, concrete, asphalt and cement.

Ingevity makes compounds used in printing inks, asphalt paving and adhesives for global customers that include the agricultural, paper and petroleum industries. It also makes carbon powders that go into automotive emission systems and have applications in air, water and food purification.

The plan to cut the Virginia Avenue business loose as a standalone public company has been in the works for more than a year. MeadWestvaco announced the split in early 2015, weeks before it agreed to be sold to rival Rock-Tenn in a deal that later created WestRock.

The combined companies decided to proceed with the spinoff of the former MWV Specialty Chemicals, which renamed itself Ingevity last summer. The transition has been delayed twice and is now expected to take place in early May.

Ingevity's stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NGVT."