Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Chairman and CEO Sam Gibara has been elected to Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.'s board of directors.

Goodyear owns 10% of Sumitomo, making it the Kobe, Japan-based company's second-largest shareholder. The two tiremakers formed an alliance in September 1999.

Gibara has been chairman and CEO of Goodyear since 1996.