After he was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago and began chemotherapy, Michael A. Ludlow developed an infection that doctors feared would soon claim his life.

But Mr. Ludlow, a senior executive at PPG Industries, battled back from that crisis and continued to hope for a cure.

That kind of resolve, his family said, was typical of Mr. Ludlow, who lost his fight with the disease on Tuesday. He died at his home in McCandless. He was 52.

"He was the most determined person I ever met," said his daughter, Jamie Ludlow, 23, an August graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

She described him as a kind, generous man who "believed that if you worked hard, you could achieve everything."

During a 30-year career with Pittsburgh-based PPG, a global supplier of coatings, glass, fiberglass and chemicals, Mr. Ludlow rose to become one of the firm's three senior vice presidents. He was responsible for coatings used on new cars and trucks, in the aerospace and packaging industries and in a wide array of industrial needs, as well as coatings operations outside the United States, the company said.

In an e-mail sent to PPG employees yesterday, Raymond W. LeBoeuf, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, and Charles E. Bunch, president and chief operating officer, said Mr. Ludlow was "intelligent, hardworking, and always led from the front."

"But we will also remember him for a sense of humor and his willingness to take the time to listen," the two executives said. "We feel privileged to have had Mike as a friend."

A Cincinnati native, Mr. Ludlow was the second of four children born to Donald C. and Frances Emma Garrison Ludlow. He was a good student and "always knew he wanted to do well in life," his daughter said.

He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1974, the same year he went to work for PPG. Mr. Ludlow also earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987.

He first worked in PPG's glass business at a Phoenix branch of the former contract and supply department. He held a number of sales assignments and branch management posts before becoming manager of the Meadville, Crawford County, flat glass plant in 1984.

Two years later, Mr. Ludlow became general manager of the former glass commercial construction unit. He moved to Paris in 1988 as general manager of European glass operations, then came to Pittsburgh in 1992 as general manager of automotive replacement glass products.

He was named vice president of automotive original equipment glass products in 1994, vice president of corporate purchasing and distribution in 1996, and vice president, industrial coatings in 1998. In July 2002, he was named senior vice president, original equipment manufacturer coatings.

Mr. Ludlow "accomplished everything he wanted to" professionally, his daughter said. He also traveled widely, visiting every state except Alaska and many foreign countries, she said.

He enjoyed skiing and golf and was a member of the Wildwood and Laurel Valley country clubs.

Besides his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 29 years, Patty Turner Ludlow; daughters, Kelly, 19, a sophomore interior design student at La Roche College, and Morgan, 18, a senior at North Allegheny High School; his parents and a stepmother, Aggie Ludlow; and brothers, Kenneth and Donald Ludlow, all of Cincinnati; and a sister, Deborah Eck, of Fairfield, Conn.

Visitation will be at Simons Funeral Home, 7720 Perry Highway, Ross, on Saturday from 1 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Burial in Cincinnati will be private.