Thomas Deman is an accomplished corporate executive with over 25 years of experience leading business and operations functions for global chemical companies. As President, Global Operations for W.R. Grace & Co. (Grace), Thomas leads 70% of Grace’s workforce including manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, process technology, engineering, and capital execution. Thomas also sits on the Board of Directors of Advanced Refining Technologies (ART), which is Grace’s joint venture with Chevron, and is executive sponsor of the company’s black employee resource group (BERG).

Prior to Grace, Thomas played a dual role as Venture Executive, Major Growth Ventures for ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Chairman, ExxonMobil Huizhou Chemical Company (China). In this role, Thomas oversaw the planning, development, and execution of a multi-billion-dollar petrochemical complex in Guangdong Province, China.

Thomas hails from Belgium where he began his career with Exxon Chemical Europe in 1995. In 2004, his career continued with ExxonMobil Chemical Company in the U.S. Since beginning his career with Exxon, Thomas has held roles of increased responsibility in ExxonMobil’s polyethylene, intermediates, and basic chemicals businesses.

From 2014 to 2016, Thomas was a Steering Board member of Plastics Europe, the industry association of polymer manufacturers in Europe.

Thomas earned two master’s degrees: his first in electrical engineering from the University of Gent, Belgium, and his second in industrial engineering /operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. He is also a board member of Dutch School Houston, a non-profit language school for children and adults.