|
Sarah A. O’Connor is serving as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Arch Chemicals, Inc., (NYSE: ARJ), a global specialty chemicals company, concentrated on biocides, with approximately $1.3 billion in annual sales. A member of the Executive Management Team, she is responsible for all legal matters involving Arch Chemicals and its foreign and domestic subsidiaries. Her responsibilities also include the corporate secretarial function as well as oversight of regulatory affairs and toxicology.
Ms. O’Connor joined Olin Corporation in 1989 as an associate counsel in the Law Department, having primary responsibility for legal matters in the water chemicals business. As a member of the Law Department, Ms. O’Connor assumed increasing levels of responsibility for legal matters associated with the specialty chemicals businesses including transactions, day-to-day commercial matters, litigation support and antitrust counseling. She was promoted to counsel in 1992 and to senior counsel in January 1995.
In March 1995, Ms. O’Connor became Director, Planning and Development, a role in which she supported all of the business units by assisting with the identification and implementation of profitable growth opportunities and the structure and negotiation of acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. As a member of the Planning and Development Department, Ms. O’Connor was instrumental in structuring and negotiating a number of divestitures. She played a key role in Olin’s spin-off in early 1999 of its specialty chemicals businesses as Arch Chemicals. At Arch, she was instrumental in Arch’s acquisition of Hickson International, PLC and subsequent integration and divestiture activities.
Earlier in her career, Ms. O’Connor was employed by the Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. as a senior attorney. Her primary responsibilities included providing legal support for the Human Resources function, handling commercial and real estate matters and managing litigation. She also worked in the Law Department of American Home Products Corporation from 1983 through 1987, focusing on corporate and securities law matters.
Ms. O’Connor attended Mercy College on a full academic scholarship and graduated cum laude in three years, with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. After working for a year as a paralegal at a New York law firm, Ms. O’Connor attended Fordham University School of Law and received her Juris Doctor degree in 1984. She received her Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University in 1997. Ms. O’Connor is a member of the American Bar Association, the Westchester / Southern Connecticut American Chapter of the Corporate Counsel Association (WESFACCA) and the American Society of Corporate Secretaries. She is also a member of the Conference Board Council of Chief Legal Officers. Ms. O’Connor is a former officer and director of the New York Women’s Bar Association.
Ms. O’Connor is located at Arch Chemicals’ headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. | 