Senior Leadership Team
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To ensure global co-ordination of operations, research and development, and manufacturing, the management of James Hardie is overseen by a Senior Leadership Team. Its members cover the key areas of fibre cement research and development, production, manufacturing, sales, human resources, investor relations, finance and legal. Team members (in alphabetical order) are:
Sean O'Sullivan (Vice President - Investor and Media Relations)
Peter Baker (Executive Vice President Asia Pacific)
Russell Chenu (Chief Financial Officer)
Mark Fisher (Vice President - Research & Development)
Louis Gries (Chief Executive Officer)
Grant Gustafson (Vice President - Interiors and Business Development)
Brian Holte (Vice President - General Manager Western Division)
Nigel Rigby (Vice President - General Manager Northern Region)
Joel Rood (Vice President - General Manager Southern Region)
Robert Cox (Executive Director, Company Secretary and General Counsel)
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Peter W Baker BSc, MSc, MBA, GAICD Executive Vice President Asia Pacific (Age 56) |
Peter Baker joined James Hardie in October 2004 as General Manager External Affairs and was made Executive Vice President Australia in September 2005. He became Chairman of the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund Limited (Trustee of AICF) in January 2006.
He has been involved in various aspects of the resolution of James Hardie's asbestos compensation matters and his current role includes managing James Hardie Industries' corporate activities in Australia.
Mr Baker is an experienced corporate executive who has held a number of senior positions in Australian public and private companies, including the MIA Group, the Tenix Group and TNT Ltd. In a number of these senior roles he was responsible for formulating corporate strategy, new market expansions in Australia and overseas and mergers and acquisitions.
He has a Bachelor of Science with first class honours from the University of Leicester, UK; a Master of Science in Operational Research with distinction from the London School of Economics, UK; and an MBA from the University of Chicago, USA.
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Russell Chenu BCom, MBA Chief Financial Officer (Age 57) |
Russell Chenu joined James Hardie as Interim CFO in October 2004 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in February 2005. He was elected to the company's Managing Board by CUFS holders at the 2005 AGM held in Amsterdam on 22 August 2005.
Mr Chenu is an experienced corporate and finance executive who has held senior finance and management positions with a number of Australian publicly-listed companies.
In a number of these senior roles, he has been engaged in significant strategic business planning and business change, including several turnarounds, new market expansions and management leadership initiatives.
Mr Chenu has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Australia.
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Mark Fisher BSc, MBA Vice President - Research & Development (Age 36) |
Mark Fisher joined James Hardie in 1993 as a Production Engineer. Since then, he has worked for the company as Finishing Manager, Production Manager and Product Manager at various locations; Sales and Marketing Manager; and as General Manager of our Europe Fibre Cement business. Mr Fisher was appointed Vice President - Specialty Products in November 2004, then Vice President Research & Development in December 2005.
Before joining James Hardie, Mr Fisher worked in engineering for Chevron Corporation. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Southern California, USA.
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Louis Gries BSc, MBA Chief Executive Officer (Age 53) |
Louis Gries joined James Hardie as Manager of the Fontana fibre cement plant in California in February 1991 and was appointed President of James Hardie Building Products (Inc) in December 1993. Mr Gries became Executive Vice President Operations in January 2003, responsible for operations, sales and marketing in our pipes and fibre cement businesses in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. He was appointed Interim CEO in October 2004 and was made CEOin February 2005. Mr Gries was elected to the company's Managing Board by CUFS holders at the 2005 AGM held in Amsterdam on 22 August 2005.
Before he joined James Hardie, Mr Gries worked for 13 years for USG Corp, in a variety of roles in Research, Plant Quality and Production, Product and Plant Management. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Illinois, USA and an MBA from California State University in Long Beach, California USA.
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Grant Gustafson BA, MBA Vice President - Interiors and Business Development (Age 44) |
Grant Gustafson joined James Hardie as Vice President of Interiors and Business Development in April 2006. Before joining James Hardie, Mr Gustafson held various consulting and consulting management positions with Bain & Company and Arther D Little. In addition, Mr Gustafson held senior management positions in the commercial building products sector with American Buildings Company and Varco-Pruden. He has lived and worked in the US, Australia and Asia.
Mr Gustafson has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA, and an MBA from the University of Chicago, USA.
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Brian Holte BS, MBA Vice President - General Manager Western Division (age 40) |
Brian Holte joined James Hardie after 17 years with Rockwell Automation, a global leader in power, control, and information solutions for the manufacturing and infrastructure business sectors. During his time at Rockwell Automation, Brian gained extensive experience in territory sales, industry marketing, business development, sales leadership, and most recently regional management in the Pacific Southwest.
His extensive sales management and leadership experience, combined with his knowledge of manufacturing, make him well-positioned to drive continued growth and performance in the Western Region.
Brian holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Technology from the University of Wisconsin,Stout, USA and an MBA from the University of Southern California, USA.
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Nigel Rigby Vice President - General Manager Northern Division (age 40) |
Nigel Rigby joined James Hardie in 1998 as a Planning Manager for our New Zealand business. He has worked as Sales and Marketing Manager and Product Development Manager for the New Zealand business; Strategic Marketing Manager for our Australian business; and Business Development Manager and Vice President Exterior Sales - Emerging Markets. In November 2004, Mr Rigby was appointed Vice President - Emerging Markets, and in 2006 he was named Vice President - General Manager Northern Division.
Before joining James Hardie, Mr Rigby held various management positions at Fletcher Challenge, a New Zealand-based company involved in energy, pulp and paper, forestry and building materials.
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Joel Rood BSCE, MSPE, MSM Vice President - General Manager Southern Division (age 49) |
Joel Rood joined James Hardie as Vice President - General Manager Southern Division in February 2007. He has over 20 years of sales, marketing and general management experience, the last nine with Hilti Corporation as Sales Vice President in the US, General Manager of Australia, and finally as Managing Director of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Joel is based in Dallas Texas.
Prior to Hilti, Joel worked with MTS Systems Corporation, where he developed their successful seismic business in Asia. Joel started his career with Schlumberger, Ltd, as field manager in north and west Africa, France and Norway.
Joel has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Princeton University, summa cum laude, and a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. In addition, he attended Stanford University as a Sloan Fellow, earning a Master of Science in Management.
Robert Cox
Executive Director, Company Secretary and General Counsel
Before joining James Hardie, Mr Cox was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary with PepsiCo Inc. During his five years with PepsiCo, Mr Cox was responsible for corporate governance and Sarbanes-Oxley/New York Stock Exchange compliance, and managed the corporate law group and the office of Corporate Secretary for the Board of Directors.
His experience also includes 10 years as a partner of the international law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP, at offices in Asia and California, where he led the business and transactions practice group in corporate governance, corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions, financial services, real estate, tax and strategic technology transactions.
Mr Cox has a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, California; and a Master of Arts from the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, specialising in International Economics, European Studies, and American Foreign Policy.
updated 23rd January, 2009
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