John S. Watson, retired chairman of the board and CEO of Chevron Corp., has been elected to Cargill's board of directors, effective February 1.
“We are delighted to welcome John to the Cargill board,” said David MacLennan, Cargill’s chairman and CEO. “John brings a wealth of experience from his long career at Chevron. He has a global perspective, with deep understandings of manufacturing economics, performance through technology, sectoral change and market volatility, geopolitical risk and more. John’s knowledge and insights will be invaluable for Cargill and our board.”
Watson retired from Chevron and its board after a distinguished 37-year career at the company. Joining Chevron in 1980 as a financial analyst, he went on to hold financial, analytical and supervisory positions before being appointed president of Chevron Canada Ltd. in 1996. In 1998, he was named a corporate vice president with responsibility for strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, Watson led the integration after the Chevron-Texaco merger and became the company’s chief financial officer. In 2005, he was elected president of Chevron’s international exploration and production company and, in 2008, elected executive vice president for strategy and development. Watson served as vice chairman of the board before being elected chairman and CEO in 2010. His retirement from the company and its board on February 1 was announced by Chevron on September 28, 2017.
Watson earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of California, Davis in 1978 and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1980. He now serves on the University of California, Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisers.
Watson joins six other independent directors on Cargill's board: Richard H. Anderson, president and CEO of Amtrak; Louis R. Chênevert, retired chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corp.; Arthur D. Collins, Jr., retired chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc.; Stephen Hemsley, executive chairman of UnitedHealth Group; Bernard Poussot, retired chairman, CEO and president of Wyeth; and Trudy Rautio, retired president and CEO of Carlson.
