Frederique van Baarle has been named president and CEO of Lanxess Corp., as Antonis Papadourakis has retired.
The transition took place Oct. 1. Lanxess Corp. is the Americas business unit of global materials firm Lanxess AG of Cologne, Germany.
"It has been an honor to have been a part of the world-class team at Lanxess and having the opportunity to work alongside so many amazing colleagues," Papadourakis said in an Oct. 2 news release. He had served in that role since 2015.
"I'm eternally grateful for the wonderful experiences and the professional and personal relationships developed during my tenure here," he added. "The team, and future operations within the region, have a bright future with [van Baarle] at the helm."
Papadourakis worked in the chemicals industry for more than 35 years, including stints at Rohm & Haas and Arkema Group.
Van Baarle joined Lanxess in 2011 and was named a board member in April. She recently moved to Pittsburgh — where Lanxess Corp. is based — marking the first time in company history that a board member has been based outside of Germany.
At Lanxess, van Baarle's roles have included leading the firm's High Performance Materials business unit, which spun off in a joint venture in April. She also led a regional engineering plastics business line at Royal DSM NV, where she worked for 11 years before joining Lanxess.
In the release, van Baarle said that she was "very excited for the opportunity to lead the team here in the Americas, which is becoming an increasingly important region for our industry and for Lanxess."
Lanxess employs more than 13,000 worldwide and posted sales of $8.8 billion in 2022. Its product mix includes chemical intermediates, additives and consumer protection products.