The Supervisory Board of BASF SE today appointed Wayne T. Smith (51) to the Board of Executive Directors effective April 27, 2012. Smith, an American, is currently head of BASF's Polyurethanes division headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

After 15 successful years on the Board of Executive Directors, Dr. Stefan Marcinowski (58) will retire with the expiration of his contract following the Annual Meeting.

At the same time, the Supervisory Board has extended the appointment of Research Executive Director Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer (56) until May 2015. He has been a member of the Board of Executive Directors since 2003.

Following these changes, the Board of Executive Directors has decided to reassign the responsibilities of Ressort VI and VII effective at the end of the Annual Meeting on April 27, 2012.

Wayne Smith will take over responsibility for Ressort VI, previously headed by Andreas Kreimeyer, and be responsible for Inorganics, Petrochemicals, Intermediates and Process Research & Chemical Engineering.

Andreas Kreimeyer remains Research Executive Director and will take over responsibility for Ressort VII, previously headed by Stefan Marcinowski. He will be responsible for Crop Protection, Coatings, South America, Biological & Effect Systems Research, Plant Science and BASF Future Business.