Board of directors
Standing left to right: Liat Ben-Zur, Eric Meurice, Gérard Lamarche, Marc Grynberg, Mark Garrett, Colin Hall, Ines Kolmsee, Koenraad Debackere, Géraldine Nolens (Board Secretary).
Sitting left to right: Françoise Chombar, Thomas Leysen, Marc van Sande (Board Advisor).
Not pictured: Karel Vinck (Honorary Chairman).
About the board
The board’s cumulative industry experience is broad, covering automotive, electronics, chemicals, metals, energy and finance sectors in addition to the fields of academia and science.
It also includes people experienced in the public and private sector and members with experience in the different regions in which Umicore is active.
Collectively the board possesses strong experience of managing industrial operations and counts 9 active or former CEOs in its ranks.
The board also has collective experience in disciplines that are specifically relevant to Umicore’s non-financial Horizon 2020 goals such as health and safety, talent attraction and retention and supply chain sustainability.
Chief executive officer, Executive director
Belgian, 53
Date appointed to board
19 November 2008
Education
Commercial Engineering – Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management, Belgium
Experience
Marc Grynberg was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Umicore in November 2008 after heading the Automotive Catalysts business unit from 2006 to 2008 and serving as CFO of Umicore from 2000 until 2006. He joined Umicore in 1996 as Group Controller. Prior to joining Umicore, Marc worked for DuPont de Nemours in Brussels and Geneva.
External Appointments
Non-Executive Director, Nexans SA, France
Chairman
Belgian, 58
Date appointed to board
10 May 2000 (date appointment Chair: 19 November 2008)
Education
Law - KU Leuven, Belgium
Experience
Thomas Leysen became Chairman of Umicore in November 2008 after serving as Chief Executive Officer of Umicore since 2000. During this mandate, he transformed the former Union Minière, a non-ferrous company in an international materialstechnology group called Umicore. He joined Umicore in 1993 as member of the Executive Committee, and successively managed several industrial divisions.
External Appointments
Chair, KBC Group, banking and insurance group, Belgium
Chair, Mediahuis, a major newspaper publishing group in Belgium and The Netherlands
Chair, King Baudouin Foundation, Belgium
Independent non-executive director
American, 42
Date appointed to board
25 April 2017
Education
Electrical engineering – UC Davis, USA Business Administration – UCLA Anderson, US
Experience
Liat Ben-Zur has been Corporate Vice President for Modern Life and Devices Product Marketing Management at Microsoft since September 2018. Prior to joining Microsoft, she was SVP and Digital Technology Leader at Royal Philips where she was responsible for driving the connectivity and digital strategy, since 2014. She served previously in several leadership positions at Qualcomm, a US wireless telecommunications company, and was co-founder and Chairwoman of the AllSeen Alliance, a consortium for an open source, common language for the Internet of Things.
Independent non-executive director
Belgian, 56
Date appointed to board
26 April 2016
Education
Dutch, English, Spanish Interpretation & Honorary Ambassadorship for Applied Language Studies – Ghent University, Belgium
Experience
Françoise Chombar is co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Melexis, a producer of smart sensor and driver semiconductors for automotive, industrial and durable consumer applications. She served previously as planning manager at Elmos GmbH and operations manager and director at several companies within the Elex group. Françoise was a mentor in the Belgian women’s network Sofia for 17 years and is committed to STEM and gender balance advocacy. In 2018, she received the title of Science Fellow by the VUB, University of Brussels.
External Appointments
CEO and Director, Melexis, Belgium Chairwoman, Flemish STEM Platform, an independent advisory group to the government of Flanders.
Indepedent non-executive director
Belgian, 57
Date appointed to board
26 April 2018
Education
Engineering – Ghent University, Belgium Management – Ghent University, Belgium Management – MIT Sloan School of Management, USA
Experience
Prof. Dr. Ir. Koenraad Debackere has been with KU Leuven since 1995, where he teaches Technology & Innovation Management and Policy. He has won numerous awards for his research and for scientific excellence, and in 2010 was awarded a Francqui Lecture Chair in economics and business.
Independent non-executive director
Australian/Swiss, 56
Date appointed to board
28 April 2015
Education
Economics – University of Melbourne, Australia Applied Information Systems – Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Experience
Mark Garrett has been Chief Executive Officer at Marquard & Bahls AG, a Hamburg-based leading independent energy supply, trading and logistics company, since August 2018. Before joining Marquard & Bahls AG, he served as Chief Executive Officer at Borealis AG, Austria, he position he had held since 2007. Prior to that, he built an extensive career in the chemical industry working with companies such as Ciba-Geigy and DuPont.
External Appointments
CEO, Executive Board, Marquard & Bahls AG, Germany
Non-Executive Director, Board of Directors, NOVA Chemicals Corporation, Canada
Non-Executive Director, Board of Directors, Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., USA
Non-executive director
American, 48
Date appointed to board
26 April 2016
Education
Business Administration – Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA
Experience
Colin Hall has been the Head of Investments at Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) since 2016. He built an extensive career, starting in the merchant banking division of Morgan Stanley, then in New York and London at the Rhône Group, a private equity firm, and later Partner in Long Oar Global Investors, a hedge fund sponsored by Tiger Management. In 2012, he became CEO of Sienna Capital, a 100% subsidiary of GBL that manages its alternative investments (private equity, credit and specific thematic funds).
External Appointments
Non-Executive Director, Audit and Strategic Committee, Imerys SA, France
Non-Executive Director, Supervisory Board, Kartesia Management, Luxembourg
Non-Executive Director, Ergon Capital Partners, Belgium
Non-Executive Director, Nomination Committee, Parques Reunidos, Spain
Non-Executive Director, Presiding Committee, GEA, Germany
Independent non-executive director
German, 48
Date appointed to board
26 April 2011
Education
Process and Energy Engineering – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Industrial Engineering – École nationale supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne, France
Business Administration – INSEAD Business School, France
Experience
Ines Kolmsee has been Chief Executive Officer of Services & Solutions at Aperam since October 2017. She previously served as CEO of SKW Stahl-Metallurgie Group, a specialty chemicals company with operations worldwide, COO and CTO at German utility EWE AG and CFO at Arques Industries AG.
Non-executive director
Belgian, 57
Date appointed to board
25 April 2017
Education
Economic Sciences – Louvain, Belgium INSEAD Business School, Advanced Management Program for Suze Group Executives, France
Experience
Gérard Lamarche has been Co-CEO of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) since 2012. He built an extensive career, starting at Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Belgium, then Société Générale de Belgique as Investment Manager, Controller and Advisor to the Strategy and Planning Department, and Suez, as Secretary of the Executive Committee, then SVP in charge of Planning, Control and Accounting. In 2000, Gérard Lamarche joined NALCO (the US subsidiary of the Suez Group and world leader in industrial water treatment) as General Managing Director. He was appointed CFO of the Suez Group in 2003.
External Appointments
Non-Executive Director, Finance and Audit Committee, LafargeHolcim, Switzerland
Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, Total, France
Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee, SGS, Switzerland
Independent non-executive director
French, 62
Date appointed to board
28 April 2015
Education
Economics – Sorbonne, France
Mechanical Engineering – École Centrale Paris, France
Business Administration – Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA
Experience
Eric Meurice was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Netherlands-based ASML Holding, a major provider of advanced technology systems for the semiconductor industry. He was previously EVP in charge of Thomson Multimedia TV Division and held senior positions in several technology groups such as Intel, ITT, and Dell Computer.
External Appointments
Non-Executive Director, IPG Photonics, USA
Non-Executive Director, Meyer Burger, Switzerland
Non-Executive Director, Soitec, France
Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee, SGS, Switzerland
Board secretary
Belgian, 47
Board advisor
Formely EVP Energy & Surface Technologies
Belgian, 67
Honorary Chairman
Belgian
