Dean's Advisory Council
James O'Brien
Jim O’Brien, 49, Ashland’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer, knows how Ashland works. He has been with the company for 27 years and has a wealth of experience in Ashland operations – from chemicals to petroleum to motor oil marketing and back.
Jim most recently served as president and chief operating officer. Prior to that he was senior vice president and group operating officer for Ashland Distribution and Ashland Specialty Chemical – the very place where he started some 27 years ago. He joined the former Ashland Chemical Company in 1976, where he succeeded in assignments of increasing responsibility in the Foundry, Specialty Polymers and General Polymers divisions.
He took a hiatus from operations in 1992 when he was selected to be executive assistant to Ashland’s retired chairman and CEO, John R. Hall. For two years, he assisted Hall as he deftly maneuvered Ashland through a volatile petroleum refining industry. Then, in 1994, O’Brien took on the challenging assignment of revitalizing Ashland’s branded gasoline marketing operations. Just one year later, he was chosen to lead Valvoline as its president, a post he held until November of 2001. While there, he successfully redirected the motor oil marketing powerhouse and built a high-performance team that focused on and successfully implemented a dynamic master brand strategy while at the same time expanding the product line into new premium products.
As group operating officer responsible for Ashland Distribution and Ashland Specialty Chemical, Jim quickly developed broad new initiatives to redefine the distribution business model, with a goal of enhancing efficiency, increasing revenues and restoring returns. At the same time, Ashland Specialty Chemical began to sharpen its market focus and reap more growth from existing product lines.
A native of Circleville, Ohio, Jim is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance and a master’s degree in business administration. Today he serves his alma mater as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Fisher Graduate College of Business. A volunteer “big brother” with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, Jim also serves on the organization’s national board of directors. He is a member of the American Chemistry Council, and on the board of directors at the Cincinnati Zoo. Chairman of the board of trustees for Midway College in Kentucky, Jim is a member of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. He is a 1994 graduate of Leadership Kentucky.
