Leadership

Sanjiv Lamba was appointed Chief Executive Officer for Linde plc in March 2022, when he also joined the Board of Directors.

Prior to being appointed CEO, Lamba was Chief Operating Officer after serving as Executive Vice President, APAC.

Lamba started his career in 1989 with BOC India in Finance, was appointed Director of Finance and subsequently Managing Director for the India business in 2001. He has worked in a number of geographies for Linde including India, UK, Singapore and Germany where he served as member of the Executive Board of Linde AG.

Lamba is a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Honours) from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University, India.

Matt White is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Linde plc. He previously served as Praxair’s Senior Vice President and CFO.

White joined Praxair in 2004 as Finance Director for the company’s largest business unit, North American Industrial Gases. In 2008, he became Vice President and Controller of Praxair, Inc., then was named Vice President and Treasurer in 2010. In 2011, White was named President of Praxair Canada. Before joining Praxair, White held roles at Fisher Scientific and GenTek.

White earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University and a Master of Business Administration-Finance from the University of Delaware. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a CFA charter holder.

Sean Durbin is Executive Vice President of Linde North America. He previously served as Executive Vice President EMEA.

Durbin joined the organization in 1993 and served in various roles across Operations, Engineering, Project Management, Business Development and Sales. He has since held leadership positions including Senior Vice President, Global Functions; Business President, Region Europe South; and President, Praxair Canada.

Durbin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration degree from the State University of New York.

Juergen Nowicki is Executive Vice President and CEO for Linde Engineering. Prior to this appointment in April 2020, he was Senior Vice President, Commercial, Linde Engineering.

Nowicki joined Linde in 1991 as Internal Auditor and held various positions in Finance and Controlling. In 2002, he was appointed CFO Linde Gas North America, USA, and was named Head of Finance and Control for The Linde Group in 2006. Juergen assumed the role of Managing Director, Linde Engineering in 2011.

Nowicki holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

John Panikar is Executive Vice President and CEO for Linde Asia Pacific. He was appointed to the role in January 2021.

Panikar joined the organization in 1991 as an Applications Engineer with Praxair. He served as the President of Linde UK & Africa from 2018 to 2020, and prior to that he was also the President of Praxair Asia, the President of Praxair Distribution Inc, the Managing Director of Praxair India and Vice President of North American Industrial Gases South.

Panikar holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester. He also earned a master’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Harvard Business School.

Guillermo Bichara is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Linde plc. He previously served as Praxair’s Vice President and General Counsel.

Bichara joined the company in 2006, first as Director of Legal Affairs at Praxair Mexico before being promoted to Vice President and General Counsel of Praxair Asia. He subsequently had responsibility for Europe, Middle East, Mexico and corporate transactions before being promoted to Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. Bichara previously held roles at Cemex and various global law firms.

A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Bichara earned a law degree from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a Master of Laws (LLM) from New York University. He is admitted to practice in New York and Mexico.

Bichara also serves on the Advisory Council of the Hispanic National Bar Association's PODER25 initiative.

David Strauss is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Linde plc, which includes responsibility for global Corporate Safety. He previously served as Praxair’s Chief Human Resources Officer.

Strauss joined Linde in 1990 as an Applications Engineer before being promoted to lead the electronics materials business. He subsequently served as Vice President of Safety, Health and Environment.

Strauss holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Muhlenberg College and a Master’s degree in Management Science and Industrial Management from Columbia University.

Ben Glazer is President of Linde Gas & Equipment Inc. (LG&E) and Latin America. He was appointed to his current position in 2020.

Glazer joined the organization in 2002 as an Associate in Praxair’s Treasury department and was later named a Financial Analyst with the company’s North American Industrial Gases business unit. In 2004, Glazer was appointed Controller for Praxair Services, Inc., followed by an assignment as General Manager of a Houston subsidiary focused on the refining and chemical markets. Glazer then held leadership roles in Praxair Electronics, Rare Gases and Helium before his service to the Office of the CEO in 2012 as Director of Executive Staff. Glazer went on to lead Praxair Mexico and Central America, as well as Praxair Asia, Praxair Distribution Inc., Praxair India and the South Region of North American Industrial Gases. He led the integration with Linde plc and then served as the President of Linde UK & Africa from 2018 to 2020.

Glazer holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University and a master's degree in business administration from Cornell University.

Oliver Pfann is Senior Vice President of Linde EMEA. He was appointed to his current position in 2023.

Pfann joined the organization in 1995 and has since served in a range of roles at Linde— first in Product Development and then as Sales Manager in Romania. He transitioned to Global Key Accounts and was named General Manager of Linde Italy in 2004. Since 2007, Pfann led a regional cluster in Eastern Europe with an increasing number of countries. In 2017, he was promoted to lead Region UK, Ireland and Africa before being named Business President Region Europe East in 2019.

Pfann holds a doctorate degree in chemical engineering and two master’s degrees: one in chemical engineering and one in business studies.

Kelcey Hoyt is Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Linde plc. She leads the global Financial Planning & Analysis function as well as Linde’s Sustainable Development efforts.

Hoyt joined Linde in 2002 and served in a variety of management positions in Corporate Accounting before being appointed Finance Director for Linde’s global Helium business in 2008. In 2009, she was named Controller for the Eastern region of the United States and director of Investor Relations in 2010. In 2016, Hoyt was named Vice President and Controller for Praxair. In 2018, she was appointed Chief Accounting Officer for Linde plc.

Hoyt holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Accounting from Pace University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Prior to joining Linde, she was an Audit Manager at public accounting firm KPMG.

Desiree ‘Des’ Bacher is Senior Vice President Communications, AI & Corporate Procurement. She previously served as Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis and Corporate Procurement.

Bacher joined Linde in 1999 as Controller for Linde Philippines and was later appointed its Commercial Manager. In 2003, she was promoted to Vice President, Finance. In 2004, Bacher relocated to Singapore and held various finance leadership roles in Asia Pacific. In 2010, she established and managed the first captive shared service organization in Manila. Prior to moving to the United States in 2019 to lead Linde’s global FP&A function, Bacher held the position of Chief Financial Officer for ASEAN and South Asia based in Singapore.

Bacher holds a bachelor of science degree in Accountancy and is a Certified Public Accountant.