Board of Directors

Charles O. Holliday

Chair

Born March 9, 1948. A US national, appointed Chair of the Company with effect from May 2015, having previously served as a Non-executive Director since September 2010.

He was Chief Executive Officer of DuPont from 1998 to 2009, and Chairman from 1999 to 2009. He joined DuPont in 1970 after receiving a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee and held various manufacturing and business assignments, including a six-year, Tokyo-based posting as President of DuPont Asia/Pacific.

He has previously served as Chairman of the Bank of America Corporation, The Business Council, Catalyst, the National Academy of Engineering, the Society of Chemical Industry - American Section and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is a founding member of the International Business Council.

He is Presiding Director of HCA Holdings, Inc., a Director of Deere & Company and is a member of the Critical Resource’s Senior Advisory Panel and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Chair of the Nomination and Succession Committee

Gerard Kleisterlee

Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director

Born September 28, 1946. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from November 2010.

He was President/Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management of Koninklijke Philips N.V. from 2001 to 2011. Having joined Philips in 1974, he held several positions before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Philips’ Components division in 1999 and Executive Vice-President of Philips in 2000. From 2010 to 2013, he was a member of the board of Directors of Dell Inc., from 2009 to 2014 he was a member of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG, and from 2014 to 2016 he was a Non-executive Director of IBEX Global Solutions plc.

He is Chairman of Vodafone Group plc and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ASML Holding N.V.

Chair of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Nomination and Succession Committee

Ben van Beurden

Chief Executive Officer

Born April 23, 1958. A Dutch national, appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from January 2014.

He was Downstream Director from January to September 2013. Before that, he was Executive Vice President Chemicals from 2006 to 2012. In this period, he also served on the boards of a number of leading industry associations, including the International Council of Chemicals Associations and the European Chemical Industry Council. Prior to this, he held a number of operational and commercial roles in both Upstream and Downstream, including Vice President Manufacturing Excellence. He joined Shell in 1983, after graduating with a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Jessica Uhl

Chief Financial Officer 

Born January 29, 1968. A US national, appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company with effect from March 9, 2017.

She was Executive Vice President Finance for the Integrated Gas business from January 2016 to March 2017. Previously, she was Executive Vice President Finance for Upstream Americas from 2014 to 2015, Vice President Finance for Upstream Americas Unconventionals from 2013 to 2014, Vice President Controller for Upstream and Projects & Technology from 2010 to 2012, Vice President Finance for the global Lubricants business from 2009 to 2010, and Head of External Reporting from 2007 to 2009. She joined Shell in 2004 in finance and business development, supporting the Renewables business.

Prior to joining Shell, she worked for Enron in the USA and Panama from 1997 to 2003 and for Citibank in San Francisco, USA from 1990 to 1996. She obtained an MBA at INSEAD in 1997.

Ann Godbehere

Non-executive Director

Born April 14, 1955. A Canadian and British dual national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from May 23, 2018.

She started her career with Sun Life of Canada in 1976 in Montreal, Canada and joined M&G Group in 1981 where she served as Senior Vice President and Controller for both life and health and property and casualty businesses throughout North America. She joined Swiss Re in 1996 and served as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2007, and from 2008 to 2009 she was interim Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director of Northern Rock bank in the initial period following its nationalisation.

She served as a Non-executive Director of Prudential plc from 2007 to 2017 and British American Tobacco plc from 2011 to April 2018. She has been a Non-executive Director of UBS AG and UBS Group AG since 2009 and 2014 respectively, and Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited since 2010. She was appointed Senior Independent Director of Rio Tinto plc in June 2017. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants and a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada.

Member of the Audit Committee

Catherine J. Hughes 

Non-executive Director

Born September 13, 1962. A Canadian and French dual national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from June 1, 2017.

She was Executive Vice President International at Nexen Inc. from January 2012 until her retirement in April 2013, where she was responsible for all oil and gas activities including exploration, production, development and project activities outside Canada. She joined Nexen in 2009 as Vice President Operational Services, Technology and Human Resources.

Prior to joining Nexen Inc. she was Vice President Oil Sands at Husky Oil from 2007 to 2009 and Vice President Exploration & Production Services, from 2005 to 2007. She started her career with Schlumberger in 1986 and held key positions in various countries, including Italy, Nigeria, the UK, the USA and France, and was President of Schlumberger Canada Limited for five years, based in Calgary. She was a Non-executive Director of Statoil from 2013 to 2015.

She is a Non-executive Director of Precision Drilling Corp. and SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

Member of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee

Roberto Setubal

Non-executive Director

Born October 13, 1954. A Brazilian national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from October 1, 2017.

He was Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. in Sao Paulo, Brazil, until April 2017. At that time, he retired as Chief Executive Officer and currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Following a brief period with Citibank in New York, he joined Banco Itaú in 1984 where he held a variety of senior roles in individual banking, consumer credit operations and retail banking before being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 1994. Following the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco, he was appointed to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.

He is a member of the board of the International Monetary Conference (IMC), the board of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the International Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Economic and Social Development Council of the Presidency of Brazil, and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Previously, he was a Non-executive Director of Petrobras S.A, President of the IMC, and Vice-Chairman of the IIF.

He is also the President of the Fundação Itaú Social and a member of the Executive Committee of the Instituto Itaú Cultural.

Member of the Audit Committee

Sir Nigel Sheinwald GCMG

Non-executive Director

Born June 26, 1953. A British national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from July 2012.

He was a senior British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the USA from 2007 to 2012, before retiring from the Diplomatic Service. Prior to this, he served as Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office Defence and Overseas Secretariat. He served as British Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels from 2000 to 2003. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1976 and served in Brussels, Washington, Moscow and in a wide range of policy roles in London.

He is a Non-executive Director of Invesco Limited and Raytheon UK, a Senior Adviser to the Universal Music Group and a Visiting Professor and Council Member of King’s College, London.

Chair of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee

Linda G. Stuntz

Non-executive Director

Born September 11, 1954. A US national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from June 2011.

She is a founding partner of the law firm of Stuntz, Davis & Staffier, P.C., based in Washington, DC. Her law practice includes energy and environmental regulation, as well as matters relating to government support of technology development and transfer. She was a member of the US Secretary of Energy Advisory Board from 2015 to January 2017, she chaired the Electricity Advisory Committee to the US Department of Energy from 2008 to 2009, and was a member of the board of Directors of Schlumberger Limited from 1993 to 2010 and Raytheon Company from 2004 to 2015.

From 1989 to 1993, she held senior policy positions at the US Department of Energy, including Deputy Secretary. She played a principal role in the development and enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. From 1981 to 1987, she was an Associate Minority Counsel and Minority Counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives.

She is a Director of Edison International.

Member of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Nomination and Succession Committee

Gerrit Zalm

Non-executive Director

Born May 6, 1952. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from January 2013.

He was an adviser to PricewaterhouseCoopers during 2007, Chairman of the trustees of the International Accounting Standards Board from 2007 to 2010, an adviser to Permira from 2007 to 2008, Chief Economist from July 2007 to January 2008, and Chief Financial Officer from January 2008 to December 2008 of DSB Bank, and Chairman of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO Bank N.V. from 2010 to 2016. He was Minister of Finance of the Netherlands twice, from 1994 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2007. In between, he was Chairman of the parliamentary party of the VVD.

Prior to 1994, he was head of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, a professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and held various positions at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. He studied General Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and received an Honorary Doctorate in Economics from that university.

He was appointed a Director of Moody’s Corporation in April 2018.

Member of the Audit Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee

Linda M. Szymanski

Company Secretary

Born April 7, 1967. A US national, appointed General Counsel Corporate with effect from August 2016 and Company Secretary with effect from January 1, 2017.

Previously, she was General Counsel of the Upstream Americas business and Head of Legal US based in the USA from 2014 to 2016, and was Group Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer based in the Netherlands from 2011 to 2014. She joined Shell in 1995 and has held a variety of legal positions within Shell Oil Company in the USA, including Chemicals Legal Managing Counsel and other senior roles in employment, litigation, and commercial practice.