MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), was today presented with the 2012 Inspired Leadership Award (ILA), a recognition that honors visionary leaders who combine outstanding business performance with values and behaviors that strengthen the human and natural environments in which their organizations operate.
The award was announced in London at the annual gathering of The Performance Theatre, which brings together CEOs and chairmen with leaders and thinkers from across disciplines, geographies and philosophies. Its purpose is to debate ways of creating a new model for growth, generating value across not just quarters but generations, for both business and society as a whole.
During his acceptance keynote, Liveris told the audience that although world faces great challenges, mankind has “the ability to engineer a new model for growth…a model that exploits the markets strengths and evens out its disruptions and disparities.”
Liveris added: “What we need now are bold leaders: leaders collaborating across outdated divisions between what is best for companies and what is best for countries, leaders innovating new ways to make the world a healthy, productive place for generations to come. We can make great things again –sustainably, socially responsibly, successfully. Not just factories, but the jobs and communities they support. Not just products, but solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges. That is what inspired leaders do.”
When presenting the award to Liveris, ILA Committee Chairman Geoff Colvin said, “Under Andrew Liveris’ inspired leadership, Dow is turning the power of its scientific expertise to overcoming the world’s resource challenges and showing us that sustainability just makes good business sense.” Performance Theatre founder Dr Osvald Bjelland echoed this view: “Andrew Liveris’ achievements at Dow move us closer to The Performance Theatre’s aim: the creation of a new and better kind of growth that doesn’t destroy the planet.”
Liveris was chosen in recognition of his success in transforming a major global company, repositioning it as an innovation-centric, science-based provider of sustainable solutions. Whether it is Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals or its POWERHOUSE(TM) Solar Shingles, that enable roofs to make their own energy, the Company’s actions exemplify this new strategic direction, which has resulted in Dow dramatically improving the sustainability of its own operations.
Past recipients of the ILA are:
- Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group (2011)
- Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever (2010)
- William Weldon, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson (2009)
- Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group (2008)
- Lars G. Joseffson, President and CEO of Vattenfall (2007)
- Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin (2006)
The members of the committee awarding the ILA are:
- Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large at Fortune Magazine (Committee Chair)
- Jeremy Hillman, Director of External Communications at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Sven Mollekleiv, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility at Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
- Michael Nobel, Chairman of the Nobel Charitable Trust
About The Dow Chemical Company:
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.
More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About The Performance Theatre:
Founded in 2000, the Performance Theatre is an annual gathering that brings together a select group of CEOs with world-class thinkers and leaders from across disciplines, philosophies and geographies. Its aim is to inspire business leaders to imagine and realize a new kind of growth. The annual program is created and managed by Xyntéo, an international strategic advisory firm specializing in low-carbon growth solutions.
For more information, see www.theperformancetheatre.com.