Dr. Kees van der Wiele (chair)
Advisor of the Dutch Separation Technology Institute
Former R&D Director of Akzo Nobel’s Catalyst Division and CTO of Albemarle
Kees van der Wiele, born in 1945, Dutch, has a Chemical Engineering PhD from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He joined Akzo Nobel’s Salt & Base Chemicals Division in 1976 as a project leader in Process Development. From 1982 to 1987 he had a full professorship at Eindhoven University of Technology: he had the main chair in Chemical Technology and led a research group in Applied Catalysis. He continued his academic activities as a part-time professor until 1995.
From 1987 to 2001 he had several management positions in Akzo Nobel’s Corporate Research and Engineering organization, among which the global responsibility for Akzo Nobel’s Process Technology R&D. In 2001 he became the R&D Director of Akzo Nobel’s Catalyst Division, which was divested and sold to Albemarle Corporation in 2004. He has been Albemarle’s (first) CTO from Juni 2006 till his retirement date of January 1, 2009.
Presently Kees is still professionally active as a (part time) advisor of the Dutch Separation Technology Institute and as a member in various national boards and committees. Kees and his wife Hilly have a son – Olivier – and a daughter – Arnica – who has emigrated to New Zealand.