Andrew N. Liveris
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Andrew N. Liveris (born 5 May 1954) is an Australian former CEO and chairman of The Dow Chemical Company of
Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...
. Liveris served as a member of Dow's board of directors since February 2004, CEO since November 2004 and was elected as chairman of the board effective 1 April 2006. Liveris became CEO in 2004 after holding the position of chief operating officer (COO). Afterwards he served as executive chairman of DowDuPont. He is chairman of the board of
Lucid Motors Lucid Group, Inc., is an American automotive and technology company that manufactures electric vehicles and supplies advanced electric vehicle powertrain systems. The company is headquartered in Newark, California. In September 2021, the compa ...
.


Early life and education

Liveris was born in Darwin, Australia. He is the grandson of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
immigrants from the island of
Kastellorizo Kastellorizo or Castellorizo ( ; ), officially Megisti (), is a Greek island and municipality of the Dodecanese in the Eastern Mediterranean.Bertarelli, 131 It lies roughly off the south coast of Turkey, about southeast of Athens and east of R ...
and identifies strongly with his Greek heritage. He attended Darwin High School until 1974 when Darwin was hit by
Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...
. He then moved to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
where he continued his education at Brisbane State High School. He earned a bachelor's degree (first-class-honors) in
Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
from the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by his alma mater as well as being named Alumnus of the Year.


Business career

Liveris began his career at Dow in 1976 in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia. He spent much of his career in
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
before moving to North America, with roles in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management. Liveris spent 14 years in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and served as Dow's general manager in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
before becoming head of Dow's entire Asia-Pacific operations. Liveris joined Dow's board of directors in February 2004, becoming CEO in November 2004. Liveris, appointed CEO in 2004 after the board of directors unanimously selected him in part based upon his plan to transform Dow, began to implement the new strategy. His election to
chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
became effective 1 April 2006.


Rohm and Haas acquisition

Liveris' strongest move to implement the strategy came with the purchase of
Rohm and Haas Rohm and Haas Company is a US manufacturer of specialty chemicals for end use markets such as building and construction, electronic devices, packaging, household and personal care products. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is organiz ...
in the summer of 2008 for $16.2 billion. This Fortune 500 company, a leader in
speciality chemicals Specialty chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products that provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agri ...
, was the subject of a global auction, which Dow won with a bid of $16.2 billion. The acquisition proved to be synergistic in terms of growth, allowing a broader and deeper presentation to clients with regard to value-added chemicals, plastics, and materials, but also in terms of costs. The acquisition closed during the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. The credit crisis caused one of Dow's joint venture partners, Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of the State of Kuwait, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), to withdraw from a planned partnership in basic plastics, despite an agreed contract, depriving Dow of $9 billion in proceeds designated to fund the Rohm and Haas deal. The London-based International Court of Arbitration ruled in March 2012 to award Dow $2.16 Billion plus cost and interest from Kuwait due to its cancellation of the 2008 agreement. In March 2009, Liveris and his management team organized a plan to implement the Rohm and Haas integration, focusing on growth and cost synergies, but also reducing costly debt from the transaction through public offerings, along with equity offers. The plan also called for the divestiture of non-strategic assets, which was accomplished through a sales process that assured maximum valuation.


Later time as CEO

In 2015, auditors at Dow challenged what they said was improper spending by Liveris. Auditors testified that he used the company's Customer Events Department for personal events including family events and various services. The Liveris family subsequently repaid several hundred thousand dollars to Dow. The head of the auditing department retracted the annual auditing reports for multiple years due to concerns for inaccurate reporting to SEC and shareholders. In March 2017, he said the ban on onshore gas exploration by the Victorian Government in Australia was "nonsense," and that he offered "Dow’s unfettered help with no intended positives for Dow" in learning extraction techniques. In April 2017, Dow said that it was considering retaining Liveris beyond his planned retirement on 30 June 2017, to help oversee the planned merger between Dow and
DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...
. In May, Dow said that Liveris would retire from the DowDuPont company mid-2018, serving as executive chairman until between April and July 2018. He stepped down from his executive positions at DowDuPont on 1 April 2018, remaining a director. He remained chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company. After his retirement, Liveris outlined plans to author several books and remain tangentially active with Dow. He also said he would join the board of Saudi Aramco. He toured Dow facilities in 12 countries in June 2018 and also was at the opening of the Andrew N. Liveris Visitors and Heritage Center in Midland.


Manufacturing council

In December 2016, Liveris was named by
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
to lead his American Manufacturing Council. Liveris said Trump created a climate that is conducive to business effectiveness for his company. On 27 January 2017, Trump publicly announced the names of the 28 members to make up the council, with Liveris heading the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. While Liveris was chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, the company donated $1 million to Trump's presidential inauguration. In 2017, the Associated Press reported that Dow was pressuring the Trump administration to ignore risk assessment studies about the harms of pesticides.


Brisbane 2032 Olympic Organizing Committee

In 2022, Liveris was chosen to lead the organizing committee for the
2032 Summer Olympics The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032 or Bris2032, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 23 July to 8 August 2032, with Brisbane, Queensland, ...
and Paralympic Games in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
.


Writing

Liveris is the author of ''Make it in America: The Case for Re-Inventing the Economy'' (first published 2011, updated 2012). Liveris argues that a healthy manufacturing sector is essential to creating jobs. Failing to support American manufacturing, as well as research and development, undermines America's potential to engage in new growth sectors such as
clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...
and
nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
.


Memberships

Liveris serves on the board of directors of the battery company Novonix, and he is also on the board of
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
,
Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...
, Worley,
Lucid Motors Lucid Group, Inc., is an American automotive and technology company that manufactures electric vehicles and supplies advanced electric vehicle powertrain systems. The company is headquartered in Newark, California. In September 2021, the compa ...
(Chairman) and He is on the advisory board of
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...
, Teneo (a global CEO consulting and advisory firm), and NEOM (an initiative driven by Saudi Vision 2030). He is Chairman of the
BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...
Long Term Capital and a special advisor to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabi

and a member of the executive committee of the
Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major U.S. companies. Unlike the United States Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, ...
. Liveris is also a former president of the International Council of Chemical Associations. He served as vice-chairman of
The Business Council The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Press Release: The Dow Chemical Company, , ''
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'', 19 October 2012
'' WSGW'' He is a member of the
Peterson Institute for International Economics The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), known until 2006 as the Institute for International Economics (IIE), is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C. Fred Bergsten in 1981 and has been led by ...
, and the American Australian Association. Liveris is on the board of trustees for the
United States Council for International Business United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
and is a trustee of the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
. Liveris is a member of the Business Advisory Board for the
University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...
(UTS) Business School. In April 2012 he became a member of the Special Olympics International board of directors. Liveris collaborated with Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, George David, chairman of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, and George Stamas, partner at Kirkland and Ellis LLP, to found The Hellenic Initiative (THI), a non-profit, non-governmental organization with the goal of encouraging entrepreneurship and job-creation investments in Greece. The $250 billion Saudi Arabia
Public Investment Fund The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on be ...
(PIF) appointed Andrew Liveris as a special adviser on matters of strategic importance, to assist the fund in efforts to boost the value of its portfolio, and ensure the contribution of PIF companies to
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's economic vision program 2030. He has also joined the board of Australia's WorleyParsons.
WorleyParsons Worley Limited is an Australian engineering and professional services company which provides consulting and project delivery expertise to the resources and energy sectors, and complex process industries. History Early history John Grill (c ...
(WOR) chairman John Grill said Liveris' "breadth of global leadership experience" in the US and Middle East will enhance the abilities of its board.


Awards and recognition

* 2010, 2012 and 2013, named No. 1 Power Player in the global chemical markets by ICIS Chemical Business magazine * 2011, George E. Davis Medal,
Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...
(IChemE). * 2011, Distinguished Performance Award for Excellence in Public Policy from the
Committee for Economic Development The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED) is an American nonprofit and nonpartisan public policy think tank. The board of trustees consist primarily of senior corporate executives from a range of U.S. industries an ...
* 2011, International Leadership Award from the
United States Council for International Business United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
(USCIB) * 2011, Legend in Leadership from the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute at the
Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...
* 2011, named Platts Global Energy Awards CEO of the year. * February 2012, Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence. * March 2012, Aristeio Award in Business from the American Hellenic Council * March 2012, served as foreign co-chair at the China Development Forum in Beijing, representing more than 200 overseas delegates including the leaders of more than 70 Fortune 500 companies, international organisations, senior officials and internationally renowned scholars. * August 2012, named by ''
The Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...
'' to the BOSS list of True Leaders. * 2013, received International Palladium Medal of the Société de Chimie Industrielle (announced in 2012) * March 2013, Chemical Industry Medal from the
Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...
(SCI) * May 2013, Eisenhower Award by Business Executives for National Security (BENS) at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. * January 2014, appointed Officer of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
for services to international business


Personal

Liveris and his wife Paula have three adult children, including Anthony Liveris, founder of the
data analytics Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data, which also falls under and directly relates to the umbrella term, data sci ...
firm Applecart. His daughter, Alexandra, is a filmmaker. As of 2018, Liveris and his wife travel between their homes in Australia and
Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...
.


References


External links


Biography from Dow Chemical



Article
at WSJ.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liveris, Andrew 1954 births Living people Australian businesspeople Australian expatriates in the United States Australian people of Greek descent Chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dow Chemical Company employees Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering People educated at Brisbane State High School People from Darwin, Northern Territory Peterson Institute for International Economics University of Queensland alumni Presidents of the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games Lucid Motors BlackRock people