The industrial gas giant announced Howard Ungerleider was elected as a company director and will serve as a member of the Audit and Finance Committee, effective 1 September 2025.
Ungerleider previously held the CFO role at Dow Inc., at its predecessor DowDuPont, between 2014 and 2023. He also serves on the boards of American Airlines and IT firm Kyndryl.
Air Products Chairman Wayne Smith said Ungerleider was an “excellent addition” to the gas firm’s board.
“We look forward to applying his extensive expertise as Air Products advances its mission to create exceptional value through operational excellence and disciplined capital management,” he said.
His appointment comes as the company continues to overhaul its leadership following the departure of long-time chair, president, and CEO Seifi Ghasemi earlier this year.
In February, former Linde executive Eduardo Menezes was installed as CEO with backing from activist investors, who argued Ghasemi had steered Air Products away from its traditional model and into riskier ventures, particularly in clean hydrogen.
Since then, senior figures from the Ghasemi-era, Sean Major and Eric Guter, have been replaced, as the new management team works to reshape the board and executive ranks around Menezes’ back-to-basics strategy.
Analysis: What the industrial gas model means for hydrogen’s future
Industrial gas companies sit at the heart of the hydrogen value chain – and now face pivotal choices about their future. With decades of experience in hydrogen production, logistics, and safety, they’re arguably the best-positioned players to scale hydrogen. But they are also, by nature and necessity, risk-averse.
The traditional industrial gas model relies on long-term, take-or-pay contracts that deliver predictable returns on major infrastructure. It’s built for resilience, not speed or experimentation.
This structure was tested when investors ousted Air Products’ long-time CEO Seifi Ghasemi, who had positioned the company’s clean hydrogen investments as a play for “first mover advantages.” As more projects landed, cash reserves fell and debt climbed, diverging from the sector’s traditional risk posture.
His successor, Eduardo Menezes, announced a $3.1bn write-down as the company exited three US projects, including green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels.
The company also announced changes to the 2.2GW Neom green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia – for which it is the owner, operator, and sole offtaker. Instead of selling green hydrogen from 2027, the company will supply ammonia free-on-board until 2030, when the first offtaker is expected to begin receiving deliveries.
Was this a one-off or a broader warning from industrial gas investors?