ExxonMobil appoints Karen McKee as president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company
On March 1, 2019, ExxonMobil announced that Karen McKee will assume the presidency of ExxonMobil Chemical Company effective April 1, 2019. McKee is currently senior vice president for basic chemicals, integration and growth at ExxonMobil Chemical Company with responsibility for managing the global Basic Chemicals and Catalysts & Licensing businesses, and accountability for integration with ExxonMobil Corporation and Growth Ventures.
McKee holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from The University of Nottingham, England, and joined ExxonMobil in Great Britain in 1990. She completed a variety of chemical manufacturing and refining assignments in Brussels, Belgium and Houston, Texas before her elevation to vice president of the Adhesion Industry Global Business Unit in 2007. Three years later she became vice president of operations for Lubricants & Specialties and later for Fuels, Lubricants & Specialties. In 2013, McKee was appointed Executive Assistant to the Chairman, before her selection as vice president of Basic Chemicals in 2014. She commenced her current role in 2017.
McKee is an advocate for women in leadership and currently chairs the Chemical Women’s Leadership Team for executive women in ExxonMobil and co-chaired the Downstream Women’s Leadership Team.
The appointment of McKee by the ExxonMobil Board follows the retirement of John Verity, who will stand down at end of the month after 38 years of service. Verity joined Exxon Chemical in 1980, and was appointed president in 2018. In between times, he has held various management roles including as vice president of research and development in 2005, vice president of the polyethylene business, vice president of the polyolefins business, and vice president of plastics and resins. In 2015, he became senior vice president for polymers before the promotion to president last year.
