Board

The Chemistry Australia Board comprises leading Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors from the Australian chemistry industry. The Board provides leadership to our industry on a range of strategically important issues and ensures that the activities of Chemistry Australia are directed to those areas and services that provide greatest value to members.

	David Hawkins Chair, Chemistry Australia Chairman and Managing Director BASF Australia Limited David has been Chairman and Managing Director of BASF Australia and New Zealand since July 2016. Prior to this, he was Head of Corporate Functions for Australia and New Zealand. This role included the subregional management of Finance, Tax, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Procurement, Real Estate and Information Management, as well as the country management operations of New Zealand. David joined BASF in 1999 to run the Information Technology platform and its broadening to include Supply Chain. In 2004, he was appointed Director of the Service Platform and the directorships of BASF’s Australian companies in 2005. Prior to BASF, David held a number of roles in a world-leading Australian subsidiary of a UK glass manufacturing business, including manufacturing management, strategy, business re-engineering, systems design and implementation. David is a graduate of Monash University with bachelor degrees in Chemical Engineering and Science (Applied Mathematics). He holds a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University and is a graduate member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors.
	Russell Schroeter Deputy Chair, Chemistry Australia Managing Director SNF (Australia) Pty Ltd Russell Schroeter has been a Board member of PACIA since 2008.Russell joined SNF (Australia) Pty Ltd in April 2002 as the General Manager and was appointed to the Board in November 2002. During that time SNF (Australia) Pty Ltd has completed the building of an emulsion flocculant plant and commissioned it in June 2003. Prior to joining SNF, Russell worked with Nalco in various sales and marketing roles in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.Russell graduated from the Gordon Institute of Technology in 1976 with a Bachelor of Applied Science.
	Stephen Bell Chief Executive Officer Qenos Pty Ltd Stephen Bell completed a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University Of Melbourne and following this, he undertook 2 years postdoctoral research in Boston, USA. Thereafter, Steve joined ICI Australia's Crop Care business in 1987 as a Research Team Leader prior to moving into ICI's Plastics business. With more than 25 years’ experience in the Petrochemical and Engineering Plastics businesses, Steve has a strong track record of delivering growth and improved business performance through differentiation utilising innovation and technology. During his career, Steve has held a range of business management and executive roles. Until recently, Steve had executive responsibility for all aspects of Qenos's commercial operations including Marketing & Sales, Supply Chain, Feedstock & Procurement, Product Technology and the Speciality Products trading business. He was also the Vice President Commercial for ChemChina Steve’s current role is the Chief Executive Officer, Qenos.
	Karen Dobson Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand The Dow Chemical Company As President of Dow Australia and New Zealand, Karen is responsible for Dow’s business and operations, and advancing the company’s strategy and reputation across Australia and New Zealand. Karen joined Dow in 1987 as an engineer at the Altona manufacturing facility in Victoria. In 1988, she moved to Dow Water & Process Solutions (W&PS) as technical sales for Australia. In 1992 she was named Asia Pacific technical leader and relocated to Hong Kong, where she performed a number of marketing and commercial manager roles. In 2002, Karen was named global marketing director for FILMTEC™ Membranes and relocated to Minneapolis, USA. Karen moved to Shanghai in 2007 for a new role as corporate marketing director for Dow Asia Pacific and in 2010 added the role of Asia Pacific regional business development director. Karen was appointed to global business director for Mining Solutions in Dow’s Oil, Gas and Mining business in 2014 and relocated back to Melbourne, Australia. In August 2017, Karen was named global commercial director of Dow Olympic & Sports Solutions where she was responsible for growing the business impact of Dow’s sports sponsorship assets across all of Dow’s businesses. Karen took up her current role in January 2019. Karen holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
	Cameron Dunn Managing Director FBT Transwest Cameron joined FBT Transwest as Managing Director in 2009. Prior to this, Cameron has held senior roles within the Transport and Logistics Industry in a career that commenced in 1986 at United Tankers. He has worked in the Industry for businesses providing specialised services for the chemical, plastics and food sectors. A career highlight was in 1998 when he was awarded the Young Western Australian Transport and Logistics Professional of the Year.He is on the Board of the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) and holds the position of Vice President. Cameron is also Deputy Chairman of the National Bulk Tanker Association (NBTA) and on the board of ARTIO – Vic. Cameron completed his education at MBS and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the CEO Institute.
	Paul Evans Vice President - Corporate Affairs Orica Limited Paul Evans was appointed Vice President - Government Relations, Social Responsibility and Community at Orica Limited in April 2016. His brief was expanded to cover media, internal and external communications in 2018 in the role of Vice President - Corporate Affairs. His time at Orica follows four years as the Chief Executive Officer at the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and setting up the first corporate offices in Adelaide for BP Developments Australia. Prior to this, Paul was the Director of Government, Regulation and Community Affairs at Lion Nathan National Foods, where he managed the company’s engagement with policy makers, industry associations, NGOs, government officials and other community-based stakeholders. During his time at Lion (2004 – 2011) Paul was a member of the Leadership Teams for the company’s two largest business units (Lion Nathan Australia and National Foods) and the merger & acquisition management teams for the takeover bids for Coopers Brewing, Independent Liquor and National Foods. In 2007 he was appointed the inaugural Chair of Lion Nathan’s Sustainability Leaders Group. Before his move to the private sector, Paul held several senior Federal departmental and government positions including Principal Adviser to the Minister for Defence, and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Minister for Defence. He won a Secretary’s Commendation for his contribution to the Defence White Paper in 2000 and was a delegate to the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit in 2008. Paul has a Masters Degree by Research in International Politics.
	Ian Hansen Chief Executive Officer Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers Ian Hansen has worked at CSBP Limited for over 20 years, holding management roles in operational and commercial areas of both the chemicals and fertilisers divisions. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director in October 2007, Ian was General Manager of the chemicals business division between 2002 and 2007, and from 2005 to 2007 was also President of the Kwinana Industries Council. Ian is a director of a number of Wesfarmers group subsidiaries. Ian holds a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Chemistry from the University of Western Australia, and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme.
	Patrick Jones Chief Operating Officer - Dulux Paints and Coatings DuluxGroup Patrick joined DuluxGroup in 1999 and was appointed to his current role in May 2011. Patrick reports directly to the Chairman & CEO and sits on the DuluxGroup executive committee. Patrick has undertaken a variety of commercial and business management roles including General Manager of Dulux Paints New Zealand. Other roles previously held include National Retail Manager for Dulux Paints Australia, Bunnings Business Manager, Independents Business Manager and State Sales Manager. Patrick also oversaw DuluxGroup’s investment in a new state-of-art manufacturing facility at Merrifield, Victoria. DuluxGroup is the market leading manufacturer and marketer of Decorative coatings, adhesives, construction chemicals, garden care products and garage doors and openers in Australia and New Zealand, making DuluxGroup the leading ANZ supplier of consumer goods into the hardware and home improvement channel. Dulux Paints and Coatings division manufactures and markets paints under several leading brands, including Dulux, British Paints and Cabots. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Business (Hons) and is a CPA. Patrick is the current Chair of the Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation.
	Mitchell Killeen Managing Director LyondellBasell Australia Pty Ltd Mitchell Killeen has a long, global career with plastics, chemicals and refining company LyondellBasell (LYSE: LYB). Mitchell was appointed the Managing Director of LyondellBasell Australia Pty Ltd (LBA) in January 2019. After 12 years of expatriate assignments with LYB, Mitchell returned to Australia in 2015, to the position of Director JV’s and Business Development for LyondellBasell International. This entailed managing, existing Asia-Pacific Joint Ventures, JV portfolio optimisation and developing new JV opportunities, from the Melbourne office. Prior to his return to Australia, Mitchell had been the Managing Director of LYB’s Dubai business, which included Africa, Middle East, Turkey and the Indian Subcontinent (AfMEI). In addition to regional responsibility for LYB polyolefin business & infrastructure, this role including board and off-take responsibilities for LYB’s three Saudi JV’s with integrated polyolefins production. Mitchell's expatriate assignments also included five years in Hong Kong from 2003 (prior to Dubai) managing marketing, innovation and projects across Asia and AfMEI, as LYB’s International Business Director. After completing his PhD (in Polyurethanes at the University of Queensland), Mitchell joined LyondellBasell Australia in 1995. Mitchell graduated from The University of Melbourne (BSc(Hons), Chemistry).