David Hawkins

David has been Chair and Managing Director of BASF Australia and New Zealand since July 2016. BASF is a German chemical manufacturing and distribution business with over 110,000 employees worldwide and global revenue of 70b Euro and a purpose of “we create chemistry for a sustainable future”. In ANZ, BASF supports its customers in many industries such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and coatings through over 300 dedicated professionals supplying innovative products and capabilities. Prior to this, he was Head of Corporate Functions for Australia and New Zealand. This role included the subregional management of Finance, Tax, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Procurement, Real Estate and Information Management, as well as the country management operations of New Zealand. David has been a director of the BASF companies in Australia since 2005.

Prior to BASF, David held a number of roles in a world-leading Australian subsidiary of a UK glass manufacturing business, including manufacturing management, strategy, business re-engineering, systems design and implementation. David is a graduate of Monash University with bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and science (Applied Mathematics). He holds a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University and is a Graduate member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors.

David is current Chair of Chemistry Australia, a member of the engineering Dean’s advisory board of Monash University and on the risk advisory committee of Siena College. He is married with three teenage daughters.