A transition of leadership of Arkema Inc. will be effective November 1, with Richard Rowe retiring and Anthony O’Donovan replacing him as President & CEO, Arkema Inc. In this role, O’Donovan will oversee Arkema activities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. In addition, he will be the regional head of Arkema Group in North America.
O’Donovan brings to his new role diverse and global experience. He has held a range of manufacturing, supply chain and business leadership roles for Degussa Specialty Chemicals in South Africa and for FMC in Canada and the U.S. O’Donovan joined Arkema Inc. in 2013 as global supply chain director for Fluorochemicals. Most recently, he served as Regional Group President for Arkema’s Fluorochemicals business in the Americas. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D., both in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
“I’m excited to take on this role at such an exciting time for Arkema,” said O’Donovan. “Arkema Group has transformed itself since its creation a decade and a half ago, becoming a global leader in specialty materials with a focus on offering the most innovative and sustainable solutions to meet our customers’ needs, today and tomorrow. We are well on track to achieve our goal to become a pure specialty materials company by 2024.”
Rich Rowe retires after a long and successful career, having held a range of global business leadership roles for Bostik Findley, Atofina Inc. and Arkema Inc. Since 2015, he has been responsible for Arkema’s activities across much of the Americas, with a focus on driving strategic growth through both organic and M&A projects. During his tenure as President and CEO, the North American region has delivered significant improvements in safety performance, talent development, and driving new business development. He helped launch multiple initiatives including the Arkema Arena Awards, Commercial Excellence initiatives and an Executive Leadership Development Program. Rowe has been a board member for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and served on ACC’s Global Strategy, Responsible Care and Board Sustainability Committees. He also has been an Executive Committee member of the Society of the Chemical Industry.
“My time with Arkema has been extraordinarily satisfying,” said Rowe. “I have been privileged to lead an organization blessed with so many wonderful, talented and determined people. It has been a highlight of my career and I will be watching as Arkema continues its journey to provide specialty materials that help our customers enable a more sustainable world.”
Arkema Group subsidiaries in North America employ approximately 4,000 people, operate 40 industrial sites, and represented 33 percent of Group sales in 2020.
About Arkema
Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema offers a portfolio of first-class technologies to address ever-growing demand for new and sustainable materials. With the ambition to become in 2024 a pure player in Specialty Materials, the Group is structured into 3 complementary, resilient and highly innovative segments dedicated to Specialty Materials -Adhesive solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions- accounting for some 80% of Group sales, and a well-positioned and competitive Intermediates segment. Arkema offers cutting-edge technological solutions to meet the challenges of, inter alia, new energies, access to water, recycling, urbanization and mobility, and fosters a permanent dialogue with all its stakeholders. The Group reported sales of around €8 billion ($9 billion USD) in 2020, and operates in some 55 countries with 20,500 employees worldwide. www.arkema.com