Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner has been appointed as a member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, effective from 1 February 2021. Maas-Brunner has been with the company since 1997 and has headed BASF’s Nutrition & Health division since 2017. In her new role, she will also take over the position as Chief Technology Officer from Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. She will assume responsibility for the three research divisions Advanced Materials & Systems Research, Bioscience Research, Process Research & Chemical Engineering as well as BASF New Business at that time. Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE, said: “With Melanie Maas-Brunner, we have appointed a very experienced chemist and strong leader to the Board. During her career at BASF to date, she has successfully set up business areas for the future – with global responsibility as well as in the Asia region.”
Wayne T. Smith is leaving the Board as of 31 May 2021. Smith has been with BASF for 16 years and has been a member of the Board since 2012. He is currently responsible for the divisions Monomers, Performance Materials, Petrochemicals, Intermediates, Process Research & Chemical Engineering and North America. “Wayne Smith has successfully developed the business areas in his area of responsibility with strategic foresight. He is particularly credited with placing customer orientation even more at the centre of BASF activities. I worked well and closely with Wayne Smith for many years. I thank him for his achievements and wish him all the best,” said Bock.
Michael Heinz will take over Smith’s responsibilities in North America after a transition period on 1 June 2021, and retain his responsibilities for South America. Maas-Brunner will additionally take over the tasks in the divisions European Site & Verbund Management, Global Engineering Services and Corporate Environmental Protection, Health & Safety as well as the role of the Industrial Relations Director from Heinz on the same date.
Following these changes, the Board of Executive Directors has decided to redistribute its responsibilities effective 1 June 2021:
- Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Ressort I, responsible for Corporate Legal, Compliance, Tax & Insurance; Corporate Development; Corporate Communications & Government Relations; Corporate Human Resources; Corporate Investor Relations
- Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel, Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Digital Officer, Ressort II, responsible for Corporate Finance; Corporate Audit; Global Business Services; Global Digital Services; Global Procurement
- Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner, Industrial Relations Director and Chief Technology Officer, Ressort III, responsible for European Site & Verbund Management; Global Engineering Services; Corporate Environmental Protection, Health & Safety; Advanced Materials & Systems Research; Bioscience Research; Process Research & Chemical Engineering; BASF New Business
- Saori Dubourg, Ressort IV, responsible for Agricultural Solutions; Nutrition & Health; Care Chemicals; Region Europe
- Michael Heinz, Ressort V, located in Florham Park, NJ, USA, responsible for Monomers; Performance Materials; Petrochemicals; Intermediates; Region North America; Region South America
- Dr. Markus Kamieth, Ressort VI, located in Hongkong, responsible for Dispersions & Pigments; Catalysts; Coatings; Performance Chemicals; Region Greater China; Region South & East Asia, ASEAN & ANZ; Mega Projects Asia