Wayne T. Smith, a senior executive with more than 35 years of leadership experience across the industrial gases and chemicals industries, has been elected to Air Products’ (NYSE:APD) Board of Directors effective August 1, 2021.
Air Products’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Seifi Ghasemi said, “I am very pleased to have Wayne join our Board of Directors, bringing his extensive experience as a top-level leader in our sector. I have known Wayne for the past 32 years and had the pleasure of working with him in the 1990s at another industrial gas company. He is a keenly intelligent, focused, and strategic thinker. I look forward to working with Wayne and the rest of our talented Board as we execute Air Products’ strategy providing sustainable energy and environmental solutions for the world.”
Mr. Smith recently retired from BASF, where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BASF Corporation since May 2015 and as a member of the Board of Management Directors of the parent company, BASF SE, since 2012. At the time of his retirement, Mr. Smith was responsible for Monomers, Performance Materials, Petrochemicals, Intermediates and North America. Prior to his tenure at BASF, which began in 2004, Mr. Smith was vice president and general manager of Specialty Construction Chemicals at W.R. Grace and Company, where he led the strategy development, growth and profitability of that unit worldwide. Before joining W.R. Grace, he served in positions of increasing responsibility with The BOC Group, culminating as vice president and general manager of the company’s Packaged Products business. Mr. Smith brings his extensive industrial gas leadership and operational experience to the Air Products Board.
Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to joining the Air Products Board, he serves on the board of Inter Pipeline.
