Shell names Holliday as next Chairman

The Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell plc have designated Charles O. "Chad" Holliday as the next Chairman of the Board.

Holliday will succeed Jorma Ollila at the next annual general meeting, in May 2015, and will become the first American Chair of the company.

Ollila will step down after serving as Chair for nine years.

Holliday was appointed as a Non-executive Director at Shell in 2010, and is currently Chairman of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and Member of the Remuneration Committee.

He was Chief Executive Officer of DuPont from 1998 to 2009, and Chair from 1999 to 2009, after joining the company as an engineer in 1970. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Holliday remains a member of the Board of Directors of Bank of America Corp., although he stepped down as Chairman in September. He is also a Director of Deere & Co., and previously served on the Board of Advisors for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University.

Ollila said he was delighted with Holliday's appointment, citing his "distinguished track record as an international businessman."

Holliday said was honored by the decision and looks forward to "working with Ben van Beurden and the whole Board to deliver the strategy."

Photo courtesy of Shell.