PEOPLE
Cernick heads Pressure Chemical
The Minafin Group has named Sandy Cernick to the position of president at its Pressure Chemicals operation in the US . Cernick has over 25 years of commercial and business development experience in custom manufacturing and portfolio product management , having previously held roles at Teva API , Callery , Siegfried and Lanxess .
Takahashi heads Showa Denko
Following the departures of Kohei Morikawa and Hisashi Maruyama to board positions at parent firm SDK , Hidehito Takahashi has been promoted to be the new president and CEO of both Showa Denko and Showa Denko Materials from 4 January 2022 . This move is designed to “ accelerate integration of the two companies and foster speedy management ”.
Brenntag man to VCH board
Dr Colin von Ettingshausen , chairman of the executive board of Brenntag and president of Brenntag Essentials in the DACH region , was elected to the board of the German Chemical Distribution Association ( VCH ) during its general assembly in September . He will serve a threeyear term in the role .
Swan appoints Ivkovic
Thomas Swan & Co . has appointed Vera Ivkovic as its new business development manager for custom manufacture . She has a wealth of experience in the custom manufacturing industry , having also been a product specialist at Johnson Matthey , then business manager at Contract Chemicals .
New joint MDs at Biesterfeld
Distributor Biesterfeld Spezialchemie has appointeed Sergej Lazovic ( right ) to be its joint managing director , along with Peter Wilkes . Lazovic ( left ) joined the group in 2016 as managing director with responsibility for the global business activities of Biesterfeld International , which he will continue to do . Earlier , the firm had also named Magnus Lagerqvist as managing director of its Swedish subsidiary ABIC
Kemi .
Merck shuffles the deck New business at JM
Merck KGaA has announced several changes in its senior leadership team at group level , effective from 1 December . Alessandro de Luca will take over as group CIO and head of IT ; Marc Horn will become chief transformation officer life science ; Anke Schenkel , replaces Horn as head of controlling life science ; and she is in turn succeeded by Alexander Lind as head of group controlling and risk management .
CEO of the Year : Brudermüller
Senior executives from companies in the ICIS Top 40 Power Players listing have voted for BASF CEO Dr Martin Brudermüller as ICIS CEO of the Year Award . Also honoured in new categories were Saori Dubourg , a BASF board member ( Sustainability Leader Award ) and Conrad Keijzer , CEO of Clariant ( Emerging Leader Award ).
Ralph Calmes , formerly in charge of the Platinum Group Metal Services business at Johnson Matthey , is to head a new Hydrogen Technologies business that is being created by merging the Green Hydrogen and Fuel Cells entities . The new business , JM said , will “ accelerate JM ’ s growth and scale-up in both markets , taking advantage of technical and manufacturing synergies ”.
62 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981