Executive Leadership Team

John E. Panichella has been chief executive officer of Solenis since the company’s inception in 2014. Under his guidance, Solenis has grown to more than 6,500 employees and 49 manufacturing sites in 130 countries from 3,500 employees and 30 manufacturing sites in 118 countries.

Through organic growth and a series of mergers and acquisitions, Panichella has steered Solenis to global leadership in specialty chemicals for water-intensive industries. The company has been recognized multiple times for its environmental efforts and safety record. 

Panichella has held leadership roles in the global water industry for nearly 40 years and is a member of the board of directors for the American Chemistry Council, the European Chemical Industry Council and United Way of Delaware. In 2016, he received the Winthrop-Sears Medal for Entrepreneurial Achievement from The Chemists Club of New York.

He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix, in Tempe, Arizona, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh.

Professional career

• President, Ashland Water Technologies and Senior Vice President, Ashland, Inc., 2013-2014.
• Group Operating Officer, Ashland Specialty Ingredients and Ashland Water Technologies, and Senior Vice President, Ashland, Inc., 2012-2013.
• President, Ashland Specialty Ingredients and Senior Vice President, Ashland, Inc., 2008-2012.
• President, Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients, Ashland, Inc., 2006-2008.
• Vice President, General Electric Water and Process Technologies, 2001-2006.
• Vice President, Global Hydrocarbon Processing, BetzDearborn, 2000-2001.

Ed Connors has been president, Americas and Global Water Technology for Solenis since 2019. He is responsible for all sales, marketing and technology operations in North America and Latin America, in addition to global strategy for the company’s industrial water treatment business.  

His strong technical background and acumen in strategy, development and product innovation in the specialty chemical industry have been invaluable in restructuring research and development teams to align with vertical markets, creation of centers of excellence around key growth platforms, and aligning objectives with business outcomes.

A co-inventor on six U.S. patents, Connors is a native of New Jersey and holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in polymer chemistry from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Joseph’s University and has completed the Executive Education Program at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. He is Six Sigma certified. Connors volunteers for the Fresh Air Fund, an organization supporting underprivileged children.

Professional career

• Senior Vice President, Industrial Water Technologies, Solenis, 2014-2018.
• Group Vice President, Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland, Inc., 2013-2014.
• Group Vice President, Coatings and Construction Specialties, Ashland, Inc. 2011-2013.
• Vice President, Research and Development and Marketing, Hercules, Inc., 2007-2011.
• Multiple leadership positions, General Electric, Hercules, Inc. and BetzDearborn, 1988-2006.

Jacques Herber joined Solenis as president, Eurasia, in 2022. He is responsible for all sales, marketing and technology operations in Europe and Asia, in addition to global strategy for the company’s paper chemicals business. His executive leadership skills include demonstrated success in profit and loss, turnaround of underperforming assets and operations excellence, and a broad background in European business.  

Herber holds an executive master’s of business administration degree from the London Business School in the United Kingdom and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; a master’s in business management and marketing degree from ICN Business School in Nancy, France, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Université de Metz, France.

Professional career

• Managing Director and CEO, BMS Building Materials Suisse, 2021-2022.
• Chief Operating Officer, Selecta, 2020-2021.
• Chief Operating Officer, Unilabs, 2019-2020.
• Senior Vice President and General Manager, Latin America; Senior Vice President and Market Head, Europe West, and other senior European positions, Ecolab, 2007-2019.
• President and General Manager, Carbone Savoie – GrafTech, 2004-2007.
  Multiple leadership and sales positions, GrafTech, Arcelor and Ekato Corp. 1992-2004.

Robert Baird has been president, Pool Solutions since November 2021, responsible for profit and loss for the global residential water treatment business. He was named CEO of Sigura Water in 2019, when Platinum Equity acquired the company from Lonza, before merging it with Solenis. As a leader in driving operational improvement and crafting winning growth strategies, he led Sigura’s impressive transformation which resulted in a tripling profit within three years.

Baird holds a master’s in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He is on the board of WaterGuru, a pool technology company, and served as chairman of the board of SOS Children’s Villages USA.

Professional career

• CEO, A.T. Cross Co., 2015-2018.
  
  
• President and CEO, Dorel Sports, 2008-2013.
  
  
• Chairman, International Retail Board; President and CEO, Domestic Appliances North America, and President, Norelco Consumer Products, Royal Philips Electronics, 2002-2008.
  
  
• Consultant, Egon Zehnder International, 1999-2002.
  
  
• Vice President and General Manager, Samsonite, 1996-1998.
  
  
• Prior to this he held multiple leadership positions in general management, marketing, and finance for the Cadillac Division of General Motors, Scott Paper, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Procter & Gamble and General Electric.

Dan Key joined Solenis in January 2022 as senior vice president and the company’s first chief operations officer. He is responsible for Supply Chain and Operations, Global Sourcing, Environmental, Health and Safety, Product Regulatory, and Quality Assurance and Improvement.

Over the past few roles, Key and his teams have achieved significant improvements in numerous areas including safety, quality, delivery, inventory, cost and people development. Key utilizes the strong and capable competencies of his team by focusing them on continuously improving their areas of responsibility. Recently, Key and his team improved delivery by more than 50 percent in On Time, In Full, improved gross profit margin by 400 basis points, and decreased gross inventory by 40 percent.

A native of the Chicago, Illinois, area, Key holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign and a master’s in business administration from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.

Professional career

• Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, Dentsply Sirona, 2019-2022.
• Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, Axalta Coating Systems, 2016-2019.
• Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, Sigma-Aldrich, 2013-2015.
• Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain, UOP, a Honeywell Company, 2010-2013.
• Vice President, Manufacturing, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, 2007-2010.

David Nocek has been senior vice president and chief human resources and communications officer for Solenis since the company’s inception in 2014. He is responsible for all aspects of global human resources and corporate communications.

From the first days of Solenis through the present, Nocek has driven the establishment of a company culture built on people, performance and results. Key to this was the development of talented, diverse leaders and teams worldwide; regular generation of metrics about employee attitudes and action items drawn from the data, and a continuous improvement mentality striving toward excellence in human resources and corporate communications operations. Survey ratings from employees have been both high and improving, even as the company experiences significant growth.

Nocek holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in human resource development from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. He completed the Strategic Business Leadership Program at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, is a Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and Human Capital Strategies, and is a member of the Human Resources Policy Association. Nocek served on the board of the International Employers Forum, a non-profit organization providing information and networking opportunities for legal and HR professionals whose organizations employ workers globally. He and his family live in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA.

Professional career

• Global leader, Talent Management, Ashland, Inc., 2012-2014.
• Global HR leader, Ashland Specialty Ingredients and Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland, Inc., 2010-2011.
• Global HR business director, Dow Chemical Company, 2009-2010.
• Various HR leadership roles of increasing responsibility, Rohm and Haas Company, 1998-2009.

Philip M. Patterson Jr. has been senior vice president and chief financial officer for Solenis since 2018. He is responsible for all financial activities of the company, including accounting, treasury, tax, controllership and financial planning and analysis, as well as information technology, shared services, mergers and acquisitions, and the global consulting and analytics group.

Patterson led the completion of a comprehensive refinancing of the company in 2019, substantially improving its liquidity and financial flexibility. He also secured financing which enabled the transaction bringing the BASF Paper and Water Chemicals business to Solenis. The same year, he successfully negotiated the relocation and build-out of the company’s world headquarters.

Patterson is a native of Delaware and holds an executive master’s degree in business administration in finance and a bachelor’s degree in accounting, both from the University of Delaware. He has also completed coursework in strategy at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Patterson is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants and the CFO Advisory Board.

Professional career

• Senior Vice President, Strategy, and CFO, CP Kelco division of the J.M. Huber Corp., 2011-2018.
• CFO, Engineered Materials Division, CP Kelco division of the J.M. Huber Corp., 2010-2011.
• CFO, Aqualon Group, Hercules, Inc., 2007-2010.
• Various management and financial and reporting responsibilities for divisions within Hercules, Campbell Soup Co. and Associated British Foods, 1995-2007.
• Senior auditor/manager, Price Waterhouse LLP, 1991-1995.

Charles Wallace has been senior vice president and chief information officer for Solenis since the company’s inception in 2014. He leads a team responsible for the company’s global information technology operations, digital security, business analytics, shared services and process improvement and automation. He also leads the steering committee for Solenis’ efforts in corporate social responsibility.

Drawing on more than 35 years of diverse experience, he built the Solenis IT department from one person to an independent operation in less than a year, followed by the establishment of a Global Shared Services group in less than three years.

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wallace holds a master’s degree in business administration from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. He has participated in professional workshops and certification programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the board of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, NPower Pennsylvania and YMCA of Delaware. 

Professional career

• Vice President of Information Technology and CIO, Keystone Foods, 2009-2014.
• Executive Director and Chief Technology Architect, Rohm and Haas, 1998-2009.
• Commercial Banking Systems Consultant, CoreStates Bank and First Union Bank, 1996-1998.
• Manager, Systems Programming and Global Infrastructure, Rohm and Haas, 1993-1996.
• Manager, Technical Services, American Packaging Corp., 1990-1993.

Royce Warrick has been senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Solenis since the company’s inception in 2014. She is responsible for the company’s global legal and governance activities, including ethics and compliance, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, data privacy, quality assurance and improvement, environmental, health and safety, and product regulatory. 

She led the establishment of the Deliberate Ethics^SM Culture at Solenis, with a week designated each year for company-wide focus on a different ethics and compliance topic. In 2019, her department was honored for innovation by the Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers Report.

A native of Willingboro, New Jersey, USA, Warrick holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a juris doctor degree from the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She is admitted to the bar in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Warrick is on the Advisory Council of Villanova University’s Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women’s Leadership and is a member of the Forum of Executive Women, the Duke Admissions Advisory Committee and the Parents Board at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is an executive sponsor of the Women’s International Network of Solenis, a founding leader of the St. John Baptist Church college prep ministry and a founder and trustee of the Roy Blair Paige Foundation, a non-profit enriching the development of servant-leader youth committed to community uplift. She is a member of the board of The American Migraine Foundation and a former board member of the STEM-focused Invent Now Kids.

Professional career

• Senior Managing Counsel and Global Commercial Counsel, The Dow Chemical Company, 2009-2014.
• Assistant General Counsel, Rohm and Haas Company, 1989-2009.

Articles

Success with Solutions, Vanguard, August 2018.

José Armando Aguirre has been vice president, Latin America, for Solenis since 2016. He is responsible for growing our business in the region, drawing on almost 30 years of experience in the pulp, paper and water industries in Latin America.

Under his leadership, the region has had consistent double-digit growth and experienced significant expansion in countries outside of the core market in Brazil. Four acquisitions have been successfully integrated and voluntary employee turnover has remained low despite strong market demand for talent.

A native of Brazil, Aguirre holds a degree in chemical engineering from Federal University of Salvador, Brazil, a post-graduate diploma in petrochemical processes from the University of Bologna, Italy, and a master’s in business administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Campinas, Brazil. He is a member of the ABTCP Council, the pulp and paper association of Brazil.

Professional career

• Director, Latin America Corporate Accounts, Solenis, 2016.
• Latin America Region Leader, Composites, Intermediates and Solvents, Ashland, Inc., 2012-2016.
• Business, New Product Launch and Applications Director, Pulp and Paper / Water Treatment, Latin America, Ashland, Inc., 2008-2012.
• Latin America Business Manager, Pulp and Water, Ashland, Inc., 2005-2008.
• Brazil Sales and Business Manager, Pulp and Paper Division, Hercules, Inc., 2000-2005.

Dr. Daniel Grell has been vice president, Environmental, Health and Safety, Regulatory Affairs, and Quality at Solenis since 2019. He is responsible for worldwide product safety and compliance, as well as employee and plant safety, and quality assurance and improvement.

Under Grell’s leadership, Solenis has twice earned EcoVadis gold status for corporate social responsibility and has twice been named to the list of America’s Safest Companies. Grell represents Solenis on several committees for the European Chemical Industry Council and is a member of the board of the European Pulp and Paper Chemicals Group. He directs the company’s involvement with the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers, the Polyelectrolyte Producers Group and the American Chemistry Council.

He holds a doctorate from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and a master’s degree in chemistry from Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main in Germany.

Professional career

• Vice President, Environmental, Health and Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Solenis, 2015-2019.
  
  
• Vice President, Corporate Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Firmenich SA, 2008-2014.
  
  
• Director, Corporate Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Firmenich SA, 2006-2008.
  
  
• Director, Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs Europe, Firmenich UK Ltd., 2005-2006.
  
  
• Application Development Manager, Firmenich SA, 2001-2005.
  
  
• Scientific Researcher, University Louis Pasteur, 2000-2001.

Elgay Kalay has been vice president of Global Sourcing and chief procurement officer for Solenis since early 2021. She is responsible for a global team of more than 60, procuring more than $2 billion yearly in chemical raw materials, indirect goods and services, logistics and corporate services.

Previously vice president, Procurement, and prior to that a global strategic project leader, she drove successful efforts to quantify and demonstrate to customers the impact of what Solenis delivers in products, technologies, know-how, service and more. She also led projects to increase efficiency among field sales and service representatives, and global initiatives to ensure business plans were met or exceeded.  

Kalay is a native of Turkey. She holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Anadolu University in Turkey, a master's in pulp and paper engineering from the State University of New York in Syracuse, a master's in engineering and technology management from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, and a master's in business administration from the Jack Welch Management Institute. She is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a Certified Professional in Supply Chain Management and a winner of the Koch Industries Environmental, Health and Safety Excellence Award.

Professional career

• Vice President, Procurement, Solenis, 2020-2021.
  
  
• Global Strategic Initiative Leader, Solenis, 2019-2020.
  
  
• Corporate Account Executive, Solenis, 2016-2020.
  
  
• Director, Continuous Improvement and Quality, and Procurement Director, Chemicals and Energy, Graphic Packaging International, 2014-2016.
  
  
• Director, Storeroom/MRO Inventory and Asset Disposition, and various compliance, purchasing, procurement, and paper manufacturing leadership positions, Georgia-Pacific, 1995-2013.

Ted Kelly has been vice president, Asia Pacific for Solenis since 2019. He is responsible for growing our business and developing the commercial and technical teams across the region.

Kelly has held leadership positions in the chemical industry in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. He joined Solenis as part of the BASF transaction in 2019 and led the successful integration of the companies’ teams and assets in the Asia Pacific region, driving improvements in costs, efficiency and plant utilization to significantly improve profitability.

A native of the United States, Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, USA. He serves as a member of the advisory board for the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers in Shanghai.

Professional career

• Vice President, Water and Paper Chemicals, EMEA, BASF, 2016-2019.
  
  
• Vice President, Paper Chemicals, EMEA, BASF, 2015-2016.
  
  
• Vice President, Paper Chemicals, North America, BASF Corp., 2009-2015.
  
  
• Merger Control Clean Team and various leadership positions, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, 1999-2009.

Lotta Kanto Öqvist has been with Solenis and its predecessor companies since 1997, working in marketing and technology roles for both the Consumer Solutions and Industrial Solutions sides of our business. Since January 2020, she has been responsible for development and implementation of the global growth strategy for Industrial Solutions, along with managing its growth and innovation portfolio. As chief sustainability officer since July 2021, Öqvist has led continuous improvement in all areas of the company’s environmental, social and governance efforts, including helping our customers achieve their own goals.

Öqvist is inventor or co-inventor on six patents for water treatment and is a recipient of our company’s highest honor, the President’s Roundtable, in the Leadership category.  She holds a doctorate in applied chemistry and microbiology from Helsinki University in Finland and a master’s in chemical engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Professional career

• Technical Director, research and development and Customer Applications Laboratories; global research and development lead, Biorefining, Krefeld, Germany, 2016-2020.
• Global Research and Development Lead, Biorefining (Food and Beverage), and Regional Lead, Customer Applications Laboratories, Krefeld, Germany, 2012-2016.
• Regional Lead, Customer Applications Laboratories, Krefeld, Germany, 2009-2012.
• Positions of increasing responsibility in laboratory management, marketing, sales, and new markets development, 1997-2009.