Bunge Ltd. has made two management appointments that will become effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Carl Hausmann, CEO, Bunge North America since 2004, will assume the newly created role of managing director, global government and corporate affairs. In this capacity, he will coordinate Bunge’s government affairs, corporate sustainability, and community relations on a global level. Hausmann served as CEO of Bunge Europe and CEO of Cereol S.A. before its acquisition by Bunge in 2002. He started his agribusiness career at Continental Grain, where he served in leadership roles in North America, South America, Africa, and Europe.
Soren Schroder, vice president, agribusiness for Bunge Europe, will become CEO of Bunge North America. He will lead all of Bunge’s business operations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Schroder joined Bunge in 2000, and has served in agribusiness leadership roles in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Bunge, he worked for over 15 years at Continental Grain and Cargill.
Both Hausmann and Schroder will report to Chairman and CEO Alberto Weisser.
Tim Piper, Growmark executive director of IT and chief information officer, received the Ron Storms Award at the 2009 AgGateway annual conference in New Orleans. The award recognizes individual efforts in the promotion of electronic standards and protocols in agri-business. This lifetime achievement award is given annually to a member of AgGateway who displays characteristics of the late Ron Storms, including volunteerism, integrity, reliability, selflessness, character, courage, and sincerity.
Rentech Inc. has appointed John Williams to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Rentech noted that Williams has over 40 years of business experience, principally in the real estate and banking industries. Since 2004, he has served as CEO, president, and managing member of Corporate Holdings, LLC, a diversified holdings company. He has served since November 2004 as CEO and managing member of Williams Realty Advisors LLC, a real estate fund advisor to over $3 billion in assets. In addition, he has nearly 20 years of alternative energy experience stemming from his investment in the biomass gasification company SilvaGas Corp., which Rentech acquired in June 2009.
In 1970, Williams founded Post Properties Inc., a developer, owner, and manager of upscale multifamily apartment communities in selected markets in the U.S. He took the company public in 1993 and served as CEO from 1970-2002, serving on the board from 1970-2004.
Williams currently serves on the board of the Atlanta Falcons, of which he is also a minority owner. He previously served on a variety of boards, including NationsBank Corp., Barnett Banks Inc. and Crawford & Co.
Potash One Inc. has appointed Erika Ritchie as vice president of environment and regulatory affairs for its Legacy Potash project in southern Saskatchewan. She is a registered professional engineer with a B.S. and a M.Eng. in environmental engineering, and has over 20 years experience in environmental engineering and management.
Ritchie’s most recent employment history includes roles as a program manager, environmental support, as well as senior environmental specialist for Cameco Corp. Prior to Cameco, she had a project management role with Environmental Consultants, where she was responsible for conducting environmental assessments and interacting with regulators. Ritchie also lectures senior engineering students at the College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan.
Russian fertilizer producer UralChem OJSC announced that shareholders at a recent Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting resolved to terminate early the powers of UralChem’s board of directors and elected the following new members: former Agrium Inc. leader John Van Brunt, independent non-executive director; AntonV.Vishanenko, chief financial officer; MikhailV. Genkin, business development director; DmitryV.Konyaev, commercial director; Dmitry A. Mazepin, member of the board of directors; Yuliya E. Orlovskaya, adviser to chairman of the board of directors; Dmitry V. Osipov, chief executive officer; Paul J. Ostling, independent non-executive director; and Dmitry V. Tatyanin, legal director.