The Supervisory Board of BASF SE appointed Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner as a member of the Board of Executive Directors effective Feb. 1, 2021.

Maas-Brunner has been with BASF since 1997 and has headed BASF’s Nutrition & Health division since 2017. 

In her new role, she will also take over the position as CTO from Dr. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. 

She will assume responsibility for the three research divisions Advanced Materials & Systems Research, Bioscience Research, Process Research & Chemical Engineering as well as BASF New Business at that time.

“With Melanie Maas-Brunner, we have appointed a very experienced chemist and strong leader to the Board,” said Dr. Kurt Bock, chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE: “During her career at BASF to date, she has successfully set up business areas for the future – with global responsibility as well as in the Asia region.”

Wayne T. Smith is leaving the Board as of May 31, 2021. 

Smith has been with BASF for 16 years and has been a member of the Board since 2012. 

He is currently responsible for the divisions Monomers, Performance Materials, Petrochemicals, Intermediates, Process Research & Chemical Engineering and North America.

“Wayne Smith has successfully developed the business areas in his area of responsibility with strategic foresight. He is particularly credited with placing customer orientation even more at the center of BASF activities. I worked well and closely with Wayne Smith for many years. I thank him for his achievements and wish him all the best,” said Bock.

Michael Heinz will take over Smith’s responsibilities in North America after a transition period on June 1, 2021, and retain his responsibilities for South America. 

Maas-Brunner will additionally take over the tasks in the divisions European Site & Verbund Management, Global Engineering Services and Corporate Environmental Protection, Health & Safety as well as the role of the Industrial Relations director from Heinz on the same date.