Lanxess AG has appointed Frederique van Baarle as President and CEO of its Americas business unit Lanxess Corp., which is headquartered in Pittsburgh.

She replaces Antonis Papadourakis, who has retired after serving in the role since 2015.

“It has been an honour to have been a part of the world-class team at Lanxess and having the opportunity to work alongside so many amazing colleagues,” Papadourakis said.

 “I’m very excited for the opportunity to lead the team here in the Americas, which is becoming an increasingly important region for our industry and for Lanxess,” van Baarle said.

In 2011, Baarle joined Lanxess and took over the management position Global Marketing and Supply Chain for EPDM rubber in the then business unit High Performance Elastomers (now ARLANXEO).

From 2013 to the end of 2018, she headed the Engineering Plastics business line for the EMEA region within the High Performance Materials business unit. In addition, she completed an executive training at the French business school INSEAD.

After being responsible for the Global Procurement and Logistics Group Function from December 2018 to May 2020, Frederique van Baarle took over as Head of the High Performance Materials business unit in June 2020.

Lanxess spun off this business unit from the Group on 1 April and placed it in a joint venture with the private equity firm Advent. On the same date, Frederique van Baarle took up her position as a member of the Board of Management and Labour Director of Lanxess AG. Her contract runs until 31 March 2026.