Charles E. Childers

Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada (Retired)

BS, 1955 , Mining Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 Charles E. Childers began his career as a mine engineer at Duval Corporation after graduating from the University of Illinois. From 1963 to 1987, he worked for International Minerals and Chemicals Corporation in various  leadership positions throughout the company. In 1987, he accepted the position of president and CEO of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and led the company through its privatization and to prominence as a globally competitive corporation.

His successful leadership has garnered him the respect of his employees and collective praise from his peers. He has been ranked among North America’s elite CEOs and earned the Wall Street Transcript Gold Award for CEOs in the fertilizer industry. He also received an award from Share Price Growth 100, the most respected stock-price improvement organization in North America. In November 1998, Childers was chosen by IndustryWeek magazine as one of the most respected CEOs in North America and, in 2005 , he was named by Toronto’s Globe and Mail as one the ten greatest CEOs of all time. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 199 and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Materials Science and Engineering Alumni Association in 2009.

He has contributed to his industry as well as his company, serving as vice chair of the Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He is also past president of the International Fertilizer Association and has served on the board of directors of the Conference Board of Canada.

Current as of 2010.