Johanna Söderström Named Corporate Vice President of Human Resources

MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Dow Chemical Company DOW announced today that Johanna Söderström has been named corporate vice president of Human Resources and Corporate Aviation. Söderström succeeds Gregory Freiwald, who has announced his retirement from Dow after 35 years with the Company.

In this executive-level role, Söderström has leadership responsibility for Dow's global Human Resources strategy and operations, including oversight for Dow's Corporate Aviation team. Söderström's proven leadership and accomplishments position her well to drive Dow's HR strategy – enabling the Company to maintain a competitive advantage by providing best-in-class people processes, programs and services for Dow's diverse, global workforce.

“Johanna has consistently demonstrated strong and decisive leadership and has been an outstanding partner to business leaders throughout the Company,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow's chairman and chief executive officer. “Dow people are our most important asset. Johanna will apply her strategic, results-oriented approach to our global organization in order to continue to attract, motivate and retain the most highly-skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable employees.”

Söderström joined Dow in 1999 in Helsinki, Finland as the HR manager for the Nordic region. In 2000, she moved to Stade, Germany to serve as HR Workforce Planning Implementation leader and in 2003, was appointed Compensation & Benefits leader for Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa and India in Horgen, Switzerland.

In 2005, Söderström assumed the role of HR Business Partner for Dow's Hydrocarbons & Energy business. After leaving Dow in 2006 to lead global Compensation & Benefits for Huhtamaki in Finland, Söderström rejoined Dow the next year as HR Geographic leader for Germany, and in 2009 assumed additional responsibility as HR director for Dow Europe, Middle East & Africa. In 2010, Söderström was appointed Global HR director for Dow's Performance Materials Division in Midland, Mich., and was named vice president of Dow's HR Center of Expertise in September 2012.

Söderström earned a master's degree in economics from Hanken School of Economics and a bachelor's degree in marketing from the Swedish School of Business Administration, both in Helsinki, Finland. Söderström is a member of the Dow Corporate STEM Council and the company's Executive Diversity & Inclusion Network Council.

About Dow

Dow DOW combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

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