2014 Distinguished Alumni

2014-08-28

Charles Cameron

Charles Cameron is currently head of technology at Downstream, the product and service-led arm of BP, focused on fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals. Based in London, Charles came to BP in 2009 after spending 25 years in France.

Born in Detroit, Dr. Cameron is a graduate of the University of Michigan and obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue in 1983 under the supervision of Prof. Richard Walton. In 1984, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Queen’s University, Canada.

In December of that year, he began a National Science Foundation Fellowship with the French CNRS on alkane activation. He then spent the next 23 years with the French Institute of Petroleum (IFP) and their catalyst and technology licensing business, Axens, in the suburbs of Paris, France. At IFP Axens, Dr. Cameron held various roles involving catalysis, catalytic processes and technical assistance, marketing, strategy and business development in the oil, petrochemicals and fuels sectors.

Charles is a non-executive Director of the Shanghai Bi Ke Clean Energy Technology Company, a joint venture between BP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences; member of the Governance Board of the Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley, California; member of the Governance Board of the International Centre for Advanced Materials, Manchester, UK; Member of the Imperial College Business School MSc Management Corporate Advisory Board; member of the Purdue University Chemistry Department Advisory Board.