Ramesh Ramachandran, president and chief executive officer (CEO) Dow Chemical International Private Limited (Dow India), has been named to the simultaneous roles of president and CEO for MEGlobal™ and Equipolymers, The Dow Chemical Company’s (Dow) joint ventures with Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait. Ramachandran will replace Henry Roth, current president and CEO of MEGlobal and Equipolymers, who has been named president for Dow Chemical Middle East.
The appointment is effective January 1, 2010 and Ramachandran will relocate from Mumbai, India to the MEGlobal headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ramachandran will report to the MEGlobal Board and Equipolymers Boards of Directors.
A chemical engineer by training, Ramachandran earned his Doctorate in surface and colloid chemistry from Columbia University, New York and has several publications and patents to his credit. He has spent his entire career in the chemical industry, initially as an analytical chemist before moving into the commercial side of the business holding product and marketing manager roles for a wide variety of business units.
Ramachandran joined Dow in 2001, as business director in the performance chemicals division for the acrolein derivatives, divynyl benzene, ENB and specialty ketones businesses. He moved to Houston in 2003 to take over responsibility as business director for Dow’s hydrocarbons division in the United States. Ramachandran relocated to Calgary in Alberta, Canada, in 2004 assuming the role of president of Dow Chemical Canada Inc. and continuing his role as business director of Dow Hydrocarbons. As president, he was also a member of the board of directors of Petromont Inc., a joint venture between Dow Chemical Canada Inc. and the Quebec Investment Group. During his tenure in Canada, Ramachandran was presented with the Alberta Centenary Citizen award in 2005 for contributions to the petrochemical industry in Alberta. Ramachandran returned to the US in 2006 to Dow’s headquarters in Midland, MI to take the role of senior director of global strategic planning and business analysis. He was appointed to his role in India in October 2007.
Ramachandran serves on the board of Waterhealth India Pvt Ltd., a non-government organization (NGO) active in providing drinking water solutions through the use of technology, and is also an advisory committee member for the Habitat for Humanity (IndiaBUILDS) program. In 2008 Ramachandran was awarded the Asian Paints Padma Bhushan Dr. RA Mashelkar Medal and Chemcon Distinguished Speaker Award for Leadership at Chemcon, organized by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, recognizing his efforts taken in developing products and solutions addressing energy and sustainability. In 2009, Ramachandran received an honorary fellowship from the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contribution to management sciences
Ramachandran holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in finance from Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, and a Doctorate (PhD) in chemical engineering and applied science from Columbia University, New York, USA.
