2022 CME STEM Leadership Award Honoree for Lifetime Achievement

Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Palang Enterprises

A visionary leader and passionate STEM advocate, Seifi Ghasemi transformed Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. during his tenure as Chairman, President, and CEO, generating a remarkable $55 billion surge in market value and elevating the company to the world’s leading industrial gases powerhouse and the most valuable U.S.-based chemical firm at the time. Under his leadership, Air Products pioneered large-scale clean hydrogen megaprojects, securing first-mover advantages in decarbonizing heavy industry and transportation while accelerating the global energy transition. At the core of his success is a profound conviction that lasting competitive advantage flows from a diverse, inclusive workforce united by a higher purpose: planetary betterment through innovation and sustainability.

A dedicated champion of STEM talent development, Ghasemi has long supported CME initiatives—including the NASA Symposium and Sustainability Summit, ACS Global Outstanding Student and Mentor Awards in Polymer Science and Engineering, K-12 STEM Festivals, and CME STEM Talks—fostering the next generation of leaders in sustainable innovation. Today, as head of Palang Enterprises—a strategic business advisory based in New Jersey—and a board member and executive committee member of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, he continues to bring strategic insight to industry and cultural institutions. A graduate member of The Business Council, his distinguished career also includes senior leadership roles at Rockwood Holdings, GKN plc, and The BOC Group, marked by bold, ethical impact. This legacy of financial excellence, inclusive culture, and unwavering commitment to diverse STEM talent earned him the 2022 CME STEM Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Full bio

Seifi Ghasemi—Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Palang Enterprises—is a visionary leader whose innovative drive has redefined global industry, merging sustainability with human potential. As former Chairman, President, and CEO of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., from July 2014 until his retirement in early 2025, he orchestrated a remarkable $55 billion surge in market value. In this role, he focused on setting the company’s strategy and policies, developing leadership, and meeting shareholder commitments—transforming Air Products into a world-leading industrial gases powerhouse. As the world undergoes a massive energy transition, his breathtaking leadership built a first-mover position in clean hydrogen megaprojects to decarbonize heavy transportation and industrial sectors.

At the heart of Ghasemi’s success is his conviction that a company’s enduring edge lies in its people—a diverse, inclusive team thriving in a culture that values every contribution and pursues a higher purpose of planetary betterment. His commitment to creating winning teams and supporting programs for diverse STEM talent translated into extraordinary growth, earning him the 2022 CME Group MSRI STEM Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the 2017 International Palladium Medal from the Société de Chimie Industrielle.
Today, Ghasemi serves as a board member of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, infusing cultural institutions with his strategic wisdom. He is a graduate member of The Business Council, an association of chief executive officers of the world’s most influential business enterprises. He was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum and the U.S.-China Business Council.

Prior to Air Products, from 2001 to 2014, Ghasemi served as chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwood Holdings, a global leader in lithium and advanced materials. From 1997 to 2001, he held leadership roles at GKN, a global industrial company, including director of the Main Board of GKN plc, and chairman and chief executive officer of GKN Sinter Metals, Inc., and Hoeganes Corporation. Earlier, he spent nearly 20 years with The BOC Group, in positions including director of the Main Board of BOC Group plc; president of BOC Gases Americas; and chairman and chief executive officer of BOC Process Plants, Ltd., and Cryostar.

Ghasemi earned his undergraduate degree from Abadan Institute of Technology and holds an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He received an honorary Doctor of Science from Lafayette College in 2017 and an honorary Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2018.