Changes in Fugro's Top Management
It has been announced that Mr Steenbakker will step down as chairman of the Board of Management of Fugro N.V., The Netherlands, and will leave the company because of a difference of opinion with respect to the vision regarding the direction for the company. This decision was made during the Supervisory Board meeting of 16 November 2012. Mr Paul van Riel, the current vice-chairman of the Board of Management, has been appointed as his successor.
Messrs Stephen (Steve) J. Thomson and Mark R.F. Heine have been appointed as successors of Mr Jacob Rüegg (68) who will retire in May 2013. Mr Thomson will manage the Subsea Services business line and Mr. Heine will manage the Survey business line. Mr. Thomson will be nominated for appointment to the Board of Management of Fugro N.V. at the Annual General Shareholders meeting to be held in May 2013.
After these changes Fugro’s top management is consisting of: Paul van Riel (56) - Chairman of the Board of Management/CEO; Scott Rainey (58) – Geotechnical; Steve Thomson (53) - Subsea Services; Mark Heine (39) – Survey; and André Jonkman (58) - Financial director/CFO.
Mr Van Riel joined Fugro in 2001 when Fugro acquired Jason Geosystems; at that time he was managing director of this company. He is a member of Fugro’s Board of Management since 2006 and Vice-chairman since the beginning of 2012. Mr Paul van Riel (56) is co-founder of Jason Geosystems B.V. (now Fugro-Jason B.V), which he established in 1986. The company was acquired by Fugro in 2001. In March 2004 he became a member of Fugro’s Executive Committee and as chief operating officer he was responsible for the Development & Production activities of the Geoscience division. He was appointed by the Annual General Shareholders Meeting to the Board of Management in 2006 and reappointed in 2010. In 2010 and 2011 he was chief operating officer for the Onshore Geotechnical activities. Per January 2012 he was appointed as vice-chairman of the Board of Management, responsible for technology and innovation, and as director of the Geoscience division. He holds an MSc degree in applied physics from the Delft University of Technology.
Mr Steve Thomson (53) joined Fugro in 2000 following the acquisition of Geoterrex which became part of the Airborne Geophysics business. In 2005 he became global director of that business and in 2006 he was appointed as member of Fugro’s Executive Committee as chief operating officer (COO) of Geophysical Services. Since the beginning of 2012 he holds the responsibility for the business line Geophysical and Geological Services within the Geoscience division. He holds a degree in geophysics from Queen’s University, Canada, as well as an MBA.
Mr Mark Heine (39) joined Fugro in 2000 and was recently appointed as regional manager Europe-Africa for the Survey division. During his career at Fugro, he served as managing director of Fugro Survey B.V., as operations and data management manager and as geodesist. He holds an MSc in geodetic engineering from Delft University of Technology.
