2022 HENAAC Awards

Education: Master’s, Business Administration, University of Houston; Bachelor’s Chemical Engineering, Maua School of Engineering at São Paulo (Brazil)

Fernando Signorini’s remarkable rise to the top of the chemical industry has been driven by technical excellence, managerial savvy, and a passion for collaboration with his colleagues and employees in ways that inspire them to succeed. 

It is no exaggeration to say that Fernando Signorini leads the single largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the entire western hemisphere.  Nor is it hyperbole to state that the history of the chemical industry of the modern world could not be told without the many chapters set at the Dow Texas Operations, which Mr. Signorini oversees today. With more than 15,000 employees and contractors working within the region’s manufacturing sites, business center, and R&D hub, Dow Texas is a vital artery of the global chemical economy at world scale. Any metric that one would look at – production volume, profitability, investment, safety, or talent acquisition – demonstrates how influential his impact and his leadership has been on the entire industry.

Fernando’s ancestors fled Italy and Spain just before and after the turn of 20th century for a shot at a better life for their children and grandchildren.  They landed not in the United States, but in Brazil, where his family’s immigrant story unfolded not in the farmlands of California or the slums of New York City but in the coffee fields and the textile mills around São Paulo. 

One of his grandfathers took his experience operating and maintaining fuel storage tanks and built a small fuel transport business, one that his father later expanded into a regional chemical distributor.  Growing up around fuel pumps and other industrial machinery sparked young Fernando’s passion for engineering.  The business also provided economic security for the family, allowing them to move into São Paulo proper and enabling young Fernando to take advantage of its superior educational and cultural opportunities.

“My family’s history has shaped my approach to everything I do,” he says. “It motivates me to respect everyone, no matter their circumstances, and it feeds a desire to break the cycle of inopportunity wherever I can.”

Mr. Signorini earned admission to the Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia, a private university based in São Paulo that features one of the best engineering programs in Brazil. In his third year of a five-year major track, one of his professors encouraged him to apply for a co-op position with Dow normally reserved for fourth- and fifth- year students, if for no other reason than to gain some interview experience. He nailed the interview, got called back for follow-up evaluations at Dow’s São Paulo headquarters, and received an offer within days.  It’s a remarkable reminder of how just one opportunity seized can transform a person’s life for the better.

In addition to a deep immersion in the chemical industry and the chance to apply his education to real-world challenges, he received constant mentoring by both technical and business professionals from across the company. One mentor in particular imparted words of wisdom that he continues to heed to this day. He told Fernando that his passion for the technical aspects of the job was very evident, but if we wanted make a difference in his career, and not just make name for himself, he needed to focus on building relationships with his colleagues and, later, his employees.

“It was all about people,” Mr. Signorini recalls.  “He told me that I needed to get out there and get to know people. I look back, and that was a learning experience that played a very significant role in my development.”

“After some time, I realized how important that attitude was to the professional I am today, and the role that we all play in coaching and mentoring individuals,” Fernando says. “When I coach or mentor somebody today, it feels to me that I am giving back what others did for me, and it is a great feeling.”

Mr. Signorini was hired full time by Dow soon after graduation, and his journey to the top of Dow’s management ranks seemed destined from the start.  Early in his career, he was tapped to lead a project to convert all control systems at a site in Brazil from pneumatic to electronic instrumentation. Not only was Fernando successful, he became a subject matter expert in the area of process automation. After that, he regularly traveled to Dow sites around the world to assist in adopting the latest technology and processes to support safe, efficient, sustainable operations.

As impressive as his career stats have been throughout his rise at Dow, it’s his commitment to inspiring colleagues and employees around him that has perhaps had the greatest impact at the company.  From his earliest days as a manager, he showed a passion and an innate aptitude for developing the aspirations of his employees by challenging them with opportunities to grow. He was lauded for his commitment to open dialogue and transparency across the Brazil HUB, a group of sites from the southeast region, where he encouraged the sharing of resources and expertise, which in turn created new opportunities for career development.

From there, he earned roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his appointment to lead Dow’s entire Latin America operation, a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.  In 2017, he moved to the United States to lead Dow’s Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure Envelope, which includes 85 manufacturing sites around the globe and accounts for $12 billion in annual sales.

Today Mr. Signorini is the Vice President of Operations for U.S. Gulf Coast, Site Director for Dow Texas Operations, and President & CEO of Union Carbide Corporation, a Dow subsidiary.  He’s responsible for roughly 40 percent of Dow’s global operational capacity, oversees the world’s second-largest petrochemical facility, and serves as a member of the Operations Leadership Team.  He is the first Hispanic ever to be chosen for this role, a designation that gives him both a tremendous amount pride and a renewed sense of duty

“The communications I received from the Hispanic community were overwhelming,” he recalls from when he was named to his current position. “You certainly feel a sense of responsibility to live up to the hope that they have.”

Having served as the Executive Sponsor for Dow’s Hispanic and Latin Network, Mr. Signorini continues to work to identify barriers for employees and provide resources for educational advancement. While serving with the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, he recognizes the need to recruit from and provide hope for the Hispanic community. In a momentous event, the City of Freeport, Texas signed a Sister City Agreement with the City of Altamira, Mexico to help bridge work, cultural and education divisions, among many other opportunities. Fernando and his wife were instrumental in helping host the delegation from the Altamira.

“If I can change lives, if I can provide inspiration, if I can break down barriers,” Mr. Signorini says, “then I can begin to repay the debt I owe so many people over so many years, who gave me the opportunity to be where I am today.”