Pappas wins American Chemical Society leadership award

Christopher Pappas is this year’s recipient of the Leadership Award for Outstanding Corporate Reinvention from the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Marketing and Economics group. (Courtesy: Business Wire)
Pappas

The American Chemical Society New York chapter will recognize alumnus Christopher Pappas later this year for his leadership of chemical firm Trinseo.

The group announced April 6 that Pappas, BCE 1978, is this year’s recipient of the Leadership Award for Outstanding Corporate Reinvention from the society’s Chemical Marketing and Economics group. According to a news release, the award honors industry leaders who are “harnessing the transformative power of chemistry to advance humanity.”

“The level of visionary leadership needed to transform a collection of separate commodity businesses into a unified company with a clear strategy and vision is simply inspiring,” leadership awards founder George Rodriguez said in the release.

“Trinseo today is an incredibly successful company in terms of any measure — financial, industry reputation, and, most especially, safety. And Chris is a CEO who is highly respected for his integrity, strategic vision, business acumen, and commitment to people.”

Pappas has been president and CEO of Trinseo since it was spun off from Dow Chemical Company in 2010. The firm went public in 2014, with its stock price rising 250 percent since. Pappas joined the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering External Advisory Board in 2015.

“It is humbling to be recognized by the world’s largest scientific society for our efforts to create a new kind of materials company that creates value for our customers, our people and our investors," Pappas said.

He will accept his award in December at the 2017 CME Leadership Awards in New York.