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Board of Directors

Meet our Board of Directors

The Board’s principal mission is to oversee the company, which includes ensuring the good performance of the Group, defining the dsm-firmenich strategy, overseeing risk control and legal compliance, and supervising the management and maintenance of our core values.

 All our Board members are Non-Executive Directors.

THOMAS LEYSEN

Chair of the Board and Member of the Compensation Committee​​

Independent Director

Nationality: Belgian

Last executive position held: CEO of Umicore

Supervisory directorships:

  • Non-Executive Chair of the Supervisory Board of Umicore
  • Chair of the Board of Directors of Mediahuis

Other Memberships:

  • Myriad USA and Myriad Canada: Chair of the Foundation
  • Mayer van den Bergh Museum: Chair of the Board of Trustees

PATRICK FIRMENICH

Vice-Chair and Chair of the Governance and Nomination Committee

Nominated Director*

Nationality: Swiss

Last executive position held: CEO of Firmenich

Supervisory directorships:

  • Board Member of UBS Group SA
  • Non-Executive Director of Hédione SA

Other Memberships:

  • Board Member of INSEAD
  • Board Member of INSEAD World Foundation
  • Member of the Swiss Board Institute Advisory Council

ANDRÉ POMETTA

Member of the Compensation Committee
  

Former Nominated Director*

Nationality: Swiss

Last executive position held: President of Firmenich China

Supervisory directorships:

  • Board Member of White Lobster SA
  • Board Member of Noyb SA

 

DR. ANTOINE FIRMENICH

Chair of the Sustainability Committee and Member of the Audit and Risk Committee

Nominated Director*

Nationality: Swiss

Last executive position held: Head of Sweet Goods Global Business Unit at Firmenich

Supervisory directorships:

  • Managing Director of Aquilus Pdt Ltd (Singapore)
  • Executive Director of Aquilus Management Ltd (Bermuda)
  • Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director of Alatus Capital
  • Non-Excutive Director of Hédione SA

Other Memberships:

  • Nominated Member of Stanford Interdisciplinary Lifesciences Council (SILC)
  • Co-Founder and Managing Director of MAC3

CARLA MAHIEU

Chair of the Compensation Committee and Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: Dutch

Last executive position held: Global Head of Human Resources and Member of the Management Board of Aegon N.V.

Supervisory directorships:

  • Non-Executive Member of the Board of Arcadis
  • Non-Executive Member of the Board of VodafoneZiggo Group B.V. Netherlands

Other Memberships:

  • Board member of the Priority Foundation of Arcadis
  • Member of the Board of Stichting Continuiteit PostNL
  • CC& Consulting

CORIEN M. WORTMANN-KOOL

Member of the Sustainability Committee and Member of the Audit and Risk Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: Dutch

Last executive position held: Chair of the Board of ABP Pension Fund

Supervisory directorships:

  • Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of Aegon N.V.
  • Member of the Supervisory Board of Deloitte Netherlands

Other Memberships:

  • Chair of the Supervisory Board of Netspar
  • Member of Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen
  • Advisory Board Member of the Impact Economy Foundation
  • Member of the Capital Markets Advisory Board of the Dutch Financial Markets Authority

ERICA MANN

Member of the Sustainability Committee & Member of the Governance & Nomination Committee
  

Independent Director

Nationality: Australian

Last executive position held: Member of the Board of Management of the Bayer Group and Global President of Bayer's Consumer Health Division

Supervisory directorships:

  • Non-Executive Member of Kellanova (formerly  The Kellogg Company)
  • Non-Executive Director of ALS Ltd

FRITS VAN PAASSCHEN

Member of the Compensation Committee and Member of the Audit and Risk Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: Dutch and American

Last executive position held: CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts

Supervisory directorships:

  • Non-Executive Board Member of Williams'Sonoma
  • Non-Executive Member of the Board of Sonder
  • Non-Executive Member of Amadeus IT Group
  • Non-Executive Member of the Board of citizenM Hotels
  • Non-Executive Member of the Board of J.Crew Group

JOHN RAMSAY

Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: British

Last executive position held: CFO and Interim CEO of Syngenta AG

Supervisory directorships:

  • Non-Executive Director of RHI Magnesita N.V.
  • Non-Executive Director of Croda International PLC
  • Non-Executive Director of Babcock International PLC

RICHARD RIDINGER

Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: German

Last executive position held: CEO of Lonza

Supervisory directorships:

  • Chair, Member of the Supervisory Board of Brenntag SE
  • Chair of the Board of Recipharm AB
  • Member of the Advisory Group of NOVO Holding

DR. SZE COTTE-TAN

Member of the Sustainability Committee

Independent Director

Nationality: Singaporean

Last executive position held: EVP and CTO at CJ CheilJedang

Supervisory directorships:

  • Executive Director, Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology, A*STAR Research Entities
  • Non-Executive Chair of Foodplant, a subsidy of the Singapore Institute of Technology
  • Member of the Advisory Committee of Clay Capital

*as per Article 3 of the Board’s Organizational Regulations, Nominated Directors are not regarded as Independent Directors.

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