Philadelphia, PA | March 23 | 2:30 - 3:30 PM
Boss Talk Live
Boss Talk Live, an interactive panel discussion where the top exectives of 4 leading global chemical companies answer your questions about the industry, presented by ACS Industry Member Programs.
Panelists include Peter Eckes of BASF, Randal King of Chemours, Alexa Dembek of DuPont, and Kathleen Shelton of FMC.
Boss Talk Live is a free event co-located with the ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo. It will take place on Monday, March 23, from 2:30 to 3:30 PM in the Expo Theater - Hall B/C at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
PANELISTS
Alexa Dembek, Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, DuPont
Alexa Dembek is the Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer for DuPont. A 28-year DuPont veteran, she champions the company’s entrepreneurial mindset to spur growth, while fostering close collaboration with customers. Today, Alexa leads business and innovation strategy alignment to make the most impactful portfolio choices for DuPont. She is passionate about elevating the role sustainability plays in these investment decisions and how DuPont can help customers achieve their own sustainability ambitions with our solutions. Alexa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Northern Illinois University and a PhD in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University.
Peter Eckes, President Bioscience Research, BASF
Dr. Peter Eckes has over 25 years of experience in the chemical industry. He leads BASF’s global competence center for life sciences headquartered in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. In this role, he drives innovative sustainable solutions for agricultural, food and industrial applications for a better life and improved environment.
Peter completed his PhD in organic chemistry in 1990 at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and pursued his postdoctoral studies at the chemistry department of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He joined BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 1992 and was named Assistant to the Chief Technology Officer in 1994.
In 1997, Peter joined the BASF Chemical Intermediates division as Technical Manager of Production at the company’s operating site in Geismar, Louisiana. Two years later, he became Marketing Manager for BASF’s regional Intermediates business in Mount Olive, New Jersey.
In 2000, Peter returned to Ludwigshafen to take on the role of Vice President of New Business Development for the global Chemical Intermediates division. In 2002, he joined BASF’s Crop Protection unit as Senior Vice President of Global Research and Development, based in Limburgerhof, Germany. From 2009 to 2014, he served as President of BASF Plant Science Research in RTP, North Carolina.
Randal King, Technology Vice President, Chemours Fluoroproducts
Dr. Randal King is the Technology Vice President for Chemours Fluoroproducts. In his current role, Randal is responsible for all technology associated with two industry-leading businesses: Fluoropolymers and Fluorochemicals. Dr. King’s product portfolio includes leading brands like Opteon™, Nafion™, Teflon™, Viton™ and Krytox™.
Prior to his current role, Dr. King was the Global Engineering Science Director of DuPont Electronics and Imaging, where he worked to improve efforts such as existing manufacturing, new process development, product and material quality, and production support for 17 plant sites.
Dr. King started at DuPont in 1989 as a research scientist for DuPont Printed Circuit Materials. From there, he became a laboratory manager, process chemist and quality improvement team leader. He held various senior roles in the company until 2001 when he left to become Vice President for Technology at Immix Technologies before returning to the company in 2002.
In his career, Dr. King’s Building Innovations team at DuPont expanded manufacturing capacity to enable the “made in the USA” status, fueling significant growth. Later, he received an Engineering Excellence Award for work that used experimental design and statistical process control to increase plant capacity.
Dr. King was born, raised, and educated in Michigan—he received his BS in Chemistry from Eastern Michigan University and his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Michigan State University.
Kathleen Shelton, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, FMC Corporation
Dr. Kathleen Shelton joined FMC in November 2017 with the FMC-DuPont transaction. As the global leader of the Company’s robust discovery and development pipelines, Dr. Shelton leads an organization of nearly 800 scientists located around the world, with laboratories in India, Brazil, France, Denmark and the United States. The largest site, located in Newark, Delaware, United States, has over 350 employees working in chemistry, biology, regulatory sciences, engineering and analytical science. Under her leadership, the FMC Crop Protection Research and Development organization won the prestigious 2018 Agrow Award for the “Most Innovative Pipeline” in the agricultural industry.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Shelton was the Director of DuPont Crop Protection Research and Development. She held several leadership roles in businesses across DuPont, both in Wilmington, Delaware, United States as well as Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Shelton earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology at Drexel University, and continued her research in a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania.
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