Board of Directors

Heidi S. Alderman

Director since 2020

Committees: Compensation, Governance and Nominating

Ms. Alderman is the former Senior Vice President, Intermediates of BASF Corporation (a global chemical manufacturing company), a position she held from 2016 until her retirement in 2019.  Prior to this role, Ms. Alderman held the positions of Senior Vice President, North American Petrochemicals from 2011 to 2016; Senior Vice President, North American Procurement from 2008 to 2011; Vice President, Functional Polymers from 2005 to 2008; and Business Director, Polymers from 2003 to 2005, all at BASF SE. 

Skills and Qualifications: Ms. Alderman’s 39-year career in chemicals manufacturing brings a unique and valuable perspective to the Board. She also holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a master's degree in chemical engineering from Drexel University, providing a depth of expertise for the Company’s expanded business. Ms. Alderman has held various positions in business, operations, research, procurement, product and marketing management at BASF, Air Products and Chemicals Inc. and Rohm and Haas, in addition to completing the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Management Program in business administration. She served on the Board of Directors of Olin Corporation from 2019 to 2023, where she was a member of the Compensation Committee and Directors and Corporate Governance Committee. Recognized as NACD Directorship Certified® by the National Association of Corporate Directors, Ms. Alderman brings significant and valuable leadership, operational, innovation, business transformation and human capital and talent development skills to the Board, as well as a global business management perspective adept at strategy development and grounded in ESG considerations.

Other Public Company Boards: None

Carlos Fierro

Director since 2023

Committees: Audit

Mr. Fierro is currently a Senior Advisor to Guggenheim Securities, a division of Guggenheim Partners, with a focus on the energy sector, a position he has held since April 2016. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Global Head of the Natural Resources Group of Barclays. Prior to Barclays, Mr. Fierro spent 11 years at Lehman Brothers, where his last role was as the Global Head of the Natural Resources Group, and he began his career as a transactional lawyer at Baker Botts L.L.P.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Fierro’s extensive experience in the energy industry brings a unique and valuable perspective to the Board. Throughout his banking career, Mr. Fierro participated in the development, structuring, negotiation and execution of numerous merger, acquisition, divestiture, restructuring and joint venture transactions. In the natural resources sector, these included transactions for companies involved in exploration and production, refining and marketing, oil field services, mining, pipelines, petrochemicals and coal. In his law practice, Mr. Fierro devoted his time principally to oil and gas transactions, including hostile takeovers, acquisitions, divestitures, public and private debt and equity financing transactions, corporate restructurings and proxy fights. Together with his prior Board of Director service with energy companies, Mr. Fierro offers significant leadership, strategic planning, international, corporate governance, risk assessment and management and industry perspective to assist the Board in the assessment and management of the specific risks and opportunities faced by the Company.

Other Public Company Boards: None

Elaine Pickle

Director Since 2023

Committees: Audit

Ms. Pickle was a senior audit partner at Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) until her retirement in 2021. She joined EY in 1986 and served as a National Professional Practice Partner from 2014 to 2018. Ms. Pickle is a certified public accountant and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She has served on the board and development committee of Theatre Under the Stars since 2018.

Skills and Qualifications:  Ms. Pickle’s extensive experience, and broad understanding and perspective of the energy industry in the United States and throughout the world provides valuable expertise and insights to the Board. She has served as audit partner for a variety of SEC registrants, spanning almost all aspect of the energy industry. In Ms. Pickle’s role as National Professional Practice Partner, she evaluated and had oversight for technical accounting, auditing and SEC reporting matters as well as quality initiatives in the Southwest region. She has served as a technical subject matter specialist on a variety of technical accounting and SEC reporting issues, including adoption of new accounting standards, matters requiring consultations on highly complex or judgment evaluations, and in support to clients and engagement teams on SEC communications and registrations. Ms. Pickle is NACD Directorship Certified® and well-suited to advise the Board on oversight of financial, accounting, auditing and corporate governance matters, as well as utilizing her global industry experience to provide ESG, strategy development and risk assessment and management oversight.

Other Public Company Boards:  1

Ms. Pickle has served on the Board of Directors of DT Midstream, Inc. since 2021 where she is the Chair of the Audit Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee.

Sivasankaran "Soma" Somasundaram

Director since 2018

Committees: None

Sivasankaran “Soma” Somasundaram is President and Chief Executive Officer of ChampionX and serves on the Company’s Board of Directors. Soma has led the Company in these roles since its spin-off from Dover Corporation (“Dover”) in 2018 and through its transformational merger in 2020 when the Company added Chemical Technologies to its portfolio and changed its name to ChampionX Corporation.

Prior to the Company’s spin-off from Dover, Soma was vice president of Dover and president and CEO of Dover Energy. He held a number of other senior executive leadership roles at Dover, including executive vice president of Dover Energy, executive vice president of Dover Fluid Management, president of Dover’s Fluid Solutions Platform, president of Dover’s Gas Equipment Group and president of Dover’s RPA Process Technologies business. 

Before joining Dover in 2004, Soma served in various global leadership roles at GL&V Inc. and Baker Hughes Inc.  

Soma was named a 2022 Most Admired CEO by the Houston Business Journal, and he was recognized by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council as the 2022 recipient of its DEI Champion Award for his commitment and advocacy for diversity, equity and inclusion in the energy services and technology industry. In 2023, he was named as a member of the National Petroleum Council, a federally chartered advisory committee whose members are selected and appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy. In 2024, Soma was named as a recipient of ALLY Energy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Soma was named to the Board of Directors of Lennox International Inc., including the Board Governance Committee and Compensation and Human Resources Committee, effective March 15, 2024. He served on the Board of Directors of Magellan Midstream Partners, an NYSE-listed partnership, from May 2022 until its merger with ONEOK, Inc. in September 2023, where he was a member of the Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee.

He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Anna University and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Oklahoma. In addition, Soma has a strong global business management background having lived and worked in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

Other Public Company Boards: Lennox International Inc.