OREANDA-NEWS. Effective February 1, 2014, Dr. Christiane Weiser-Zimmermann has been named head of Global Communications at BASF's Coatings division. She succeeds Dr. Martin Rissmann, who became head of the Global Communications unit at the Performance Materials division on January 1, 2014. Weiser-Zimmermann joins BASF from U.S. chemical company DuPont, where she held several communication positions.

Dr. Christiane Weiser-Zimmermann earned a Ph.D. in historical geography, history and urban planning in 1990 and worked at the Office of Historic Urban and Landscape Research in Bonn and the Office for Archeology of the State of Saxony in Dresden. In 1997, she became the press officer at Herberts, a paint manufacturer based in Wuppertal. After DuPont acquired Herberts, she held various communications positions at the U.S. chemical company and starting in 2006, was the leader of Issues & Crisis Programs EMEA.

Dr. Martin Rissmann studied political science, history and German literature at the universities of Bonn and Oxford. After completing his studies, he worked as a research staff member at the German Federal Chancellery and at the German Bundestag. In 1994, he joined BASF, where he assumed responsibility for Public Affairs and Political Communications. In 1998, Rissmann transferred to BASF Corporation in Mount Olive, New Jersey. He became head of the Global Communications unit of BASFJPN s Coatings division in 2003.