WILMINGTON, DE - DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman has announced that the company is being streamlined to focus on four emerging trends: to meet the demand for food, protecting people and the environment, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and capitalizing on the growth of emerging markets. To that end, the company is streamlining its organization. Steps include: eliminating the five group vice president positions and existing support structure associated with the platforms that house DuPont’s businesses; consolidating the company’s 23 businesses into 14, each with clear accountability for profit and loss and cash management and a direct reporting line to the company’s senior leadership team; and streamlining the 14 businesses to drive decision making closer to customers by increasing regional business responsibility and accountability.
“DuPont’s leadership in market-driven science uniquely positions the company to capitalize on four global trends that will define the coming decades. The actions we are taking today will give our organization the focus and responsiveness it needs to deliver sustainable customer solutions to the demands created by those trends,” Kullman said.
The company has made several leadership changes that will become effective Oct. 1.
Thomas M. Connelly Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, will be responsible for the Applied BioSciences, Nutrition & Health, Performance Polymers, and Packaging & Industrial Polymers businesses. He will continue to lead science and technology and the geographic regions outside the United States. In addition, Connelly will lead the integration of the sourcing and logistics and operations functions to capture potential productivity available from end-to-end process improvements.
James C. Borel, Group Vice President – DuPont Agriculture, has been named Executive Vice President. He will be responsible for the company’s Pioneer Hi-Bred and Crop Protection businesses. Borel will focus on strengthening and growing the company’s production agriculture businesses globally.
Mark P. Vergnano, Group Vice President – DuPont Safety & Protection, has been named Executive Vice President. He will be responsible for the Building Innovations, Protection Technologies, Safety Resources, Electronics & Communications, Chemical Solutions, Fluoroproducts, and Titanium Technologies businesses. He also will lead the company’s sustainability, safety, communications, and sales and marketing functions.
Jeffrey L. Keefer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will move to a new role with responsibility for the Performance Coatings business, corporate strategy development process, and overall cost and working capital productivity efforts. He will continue as CFO until Oct. 31 to ensure a smooth transition to the new CFO.
Nicholas C. Fanandakis, Group Vice President – Applied BioSciences, will begin to transition Sept. 1 and become CFO effective Nov. 1. Fanandakis has served in a range of financial and business leadership positions during his 30-year career at DuPont.
Richard R. Goodmanson, Chief Operating Officer, will pursue his plans to retire, effective Sept. 30.
Jeffrey A. Coe, Senior Vice President – Sourcing & Logistics, will become Senior Vice President – Integrated Operations & Engineering effective Sept. 1, following the retirement of Mathieu Vrijsen.
The company announced the following Presidents will lead its 14 businesses, effective Oct. 1: Pioneer Hi-Bred – Paul E. Schickler; Crop Protection – James C. Collins; Nutrition & Health – Craig F. Binetti; Electronics & Communications – David B. Miller; Performance Coatings - Terry Caloghiris; Performance Polymers - Diane H. Gulyas; Packaging & Industrial Polymers – William J. Harvey; Protection Technologies – Thomas G. Powell; Building Innovations - Thomas F. Schuler; Safety Resources - James R. Weigand; Chemical Solutions - Gary W. Spitzer; Fluoroproducts - Cynthia C. Green; Titanium Technologies - Richard C. Olson; and Applied BioSciences – Craig F. Binetti (effective Sept. 1).
