Change at the top

Dr. Alfred Oberholz, Degussa AG, Düsseldorf/Germany, was elected new Chairman of Dechema, Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Frankfurt am Main, by the Board of Directors on 7 June 2004.
Born in 1952, Alfred Oberholz studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen University where he obtained his doctorate under the supervision of Prof. Hammer and Prof. Keim. His career commenced in 1980 in the Central Division Process Engineering at Chemische Werke Hüls AG. There he was successively promoted to Plant Manager, to the Central Division Research and Development and subsequently to the Corporate Unit Finance/Corporate Development. From 1994 to 1996 he held the position of Executive Manager of Hüls Silicone GmbH. From 1996 he served as a deputy member, from 1998 as a member of the Board of Management of Hüls AG. From 1999 he was a member of the Board of Management of Degussa-Hüls AG, since 2001 of Degussa AG.

Alfred Oberholz holds numerous honorary positions, including member of the Board of the Degussa Foundation, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Infracor GmbH, member of the Supervisory Board of Rütgers AG and SKW Metallurgie AG, member of the Research and Technology Policy Committee of Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (the umbrella organization of German industry) and member of the Board of Trustees of Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (German Chemical Industry Fund).
Prof. Felcht, Chairman of the Board of Management of Degussa AG and Member of the Board of Management of RAG AG, was chairman of Dechema for twelve years. This period witnessed a re-orientation of the activities of Dechema’s Research and Technical Committees, the increased Europeanization of research planning and, with the foundation of the World Chemical Engineering Council, the intensified internationalization of Dechema. The “ACHEMA Worldwide” concept with three exhibition-congresses on three continents in a three-year cycle – ACHEMA in Frankfurt, AchemAsia in Beijing and AchemAmerica in Mexico City – was successfully implemented. Furthermore, efforts were intensified to promote next generation scientists, for instance by involving them professionally at an early stage of their careers, by creating the Young University Teachers Award and the Dechema Student Awards, and by launching the Dechemax Pupils’ Club.
On the occasion of the inauguration of Dr. Oberholz, Prof. Felcht stated that his numerous duties as Chairman of the Board of Management of Degussa AG, member of the Board of Management of RAG and on the Supervisory Boards of various affiliated companies and
also his manifold functions and honorary offices in science and industry made it expedient to hand over the chairmanship of Dechema to a younger person. He stated that, with Alfred Oberholz, whose responsibilities as member of the Board of Management of Degussa AG since 2001 had included R&D, the tasks and
challenges of Dechema could not be in better hands.