People

People

Clariant, says that Conrad Keijzer become its new chief executive officer as of January 1st, 2021. Interim executive chairman Hariolf Kottmann has thus returned to his position as chairman of the board. Keijzer is a Dutch citizen with a long track record in the chemical industry, including 24 years with leading global paints and coatings manufacturer AkzoNobel, where he was CEO of the Performance Coatings Division and a member of the Executive Committee. Most recently, Conrad Keijzer was CEO of Imerys, a French supplier of mineral-based specialty solutions.

Peter Kirkegaard has been appointed Chief Human Resources Officer of Haldor Topsoe, effective from January 1st, 2021. Since 2016, Peter Kirkegaard has served as executive vice president, chief people & culture officer, with Hempel A/S, which he joined in 2007 as vice president. Before that, he had a 15 year career with Accenture, where he was a partner leading the Human Performance and Finance & Performance Management sections.

“Peter has shown that he can drive large-scale transformation projects with great results and buy-in from the organisation. I am convinced that his strategic mindset, cultural sensitivity and collaborative approach will bring exceptional value to our company, and that Peter will take an important role in securing Haldor Topsoe’s success,” said Roeland Baan, CEO of Haldor Topsoe.

“I really look forward to be part of the ambitious transformation that Haldor Topsoe has just begun. The vision to become recognized as the global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies by 2024 truly inspires me. Haldor Topsoe – and its employees – has the potential to do a remarkable positive difference on a global scale, and I am proud that I can be part of that,” Kirkegaard said.

BASF CEO Dr. Martin Brudermüller has been elected the new president of Cefic, at the organisation’s recent General Assembly. He succeeds Daniel Ferrari, CEO of Versalis (Eni) who held this post from October 2018. Marco Mensink, Cefic’s Director General commented: “I am pleased to welcome Martin Brudermüller as our new President. With more than 30 years’ experience in various roles in the chemical industry, he will be able to lead us to deliver on the Green deal objectives.

Brudermüller has been chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE and Chief Technology Officer of BASF SE since July 2018. He studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe and earned his doctorate in 1987. He has been a member of the BASF board since 2006. He was also a member of the High-Level Group on maximising the impact of EU Research and Innovation Programmes, chaired by Pascal Lamy.

Canadian researcher Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle has been awarded the 2020 IFA Norman Borlaug Award for her trailblazing multidisciplinary research that has helped improve fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency and reduce nitrous oxide (N2 O) losses by up to 70% without sacrificing crop yields. Dr. Wagner-Riddle was among the first researchers to apply micrometeorological techniques to monitor and better understand year-round N2 O emissions from cropping systems by using a tunable diode laser trace gas analyser. She leads a large collaborative group of scientists at the University of Guelph, where she is currently professor at the School of Environmental Sciences, in a new outdoor soil monitoring laboratory.

Alzbeta Klein has been named as the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA)’s new director general, effective from January 11th, 2021. Ms. Klein brings significant finance, sustainability and emerging markets experience, most recently from the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/World Bank Group, and through her numerous board-level positions. She joined the World Bank Group in 1997, after several years at Export Development Canada, and has served on several corporate and advisory boards of leading agribusiness companies such as Hans Merensky Holdings and Grupo Los Grobo, and on advisory sustainability boards of Nespresso and the New York University Stern School of Business. A citizen of Canada and Slovakia, Ms. Klein holds an engineering degree from Prague University, a Masters’ degree in Economics from the University of Ottawa, Canada, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

“We are delighted to welcome Ms. Klein”, said IFA Chairman, Mostafa Terrab. “We are convinced that her breadth of knowledge, as well as her global expertise in finance, sustainability and emerging markets, together with her proven leadership skills, will serve the industry well on its trajectory towards the IFA2030 vision.”