Michelle Jou took over as head of Covestro's Polycarbonates Segment effective January 1, 2016. She is the first woman to hold this position and succeeds Dr. Markus Steilemann, who as of this same date, became head of the Polyurethanes Segment. Since September 1, 2015, he is also member of the Board of Management and responsible for Innovation.Michelle Jou has over 20 years of professional experience in the chemical industry in Asia, where she served in a variety of positions in sales, marketing and supply chain management. Before joining Bayer in 2003, she worked approximately ten years for a leading French petrochemicals company in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
At Bayer MaterialScience, she performed a number of different managerial duties in Shanghai, initially with the company's central departments. Jou then joined the Polycarbonates Business Unit, where in 2012 she was named head of Commercial Operations in the Asia region.
A native of Taiwan, Jou holds a bachelor's degree from Fu-Jen University there. She also has a master's degree from the EMLYON Business School in France.
Bayer MaterialScience has operated under the name of Covestro since September 1, 2015. The company had already relocated the headquarters of its global polycarbonate activities to Shanghai in 2011, as the primary markets for thermoplastics are located in Asia.
