Ester Baiget
| Ester Baiget | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 August 1971 Reus, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Education | Chemical engineering, Rovira i Virgili University; MBA, Rovira i Virgili University |
| Occupation | Chemical engineer, business executive |
| Employer | Novozymes |
| Title | President and chief executive officer (from 2020) |
| Known for | Leadership of Novozymes' biosolutions business and climate advocacy |
Ester Baiget (born 22 August 1971, in Reus) is a Spanish chemical engineer and business executive. She spent 25 years at Dow Chemical in a series of technical and commercial roles before becoming president and chief executive officer of Novozymes, a Danish biotechnology company, on 1 February 2020.
Baiget has since taken on a number of external roles connected to climate and sustainability policy, and in 2024 she appeared on both Forbes' and Time magazine's lists of global climate leaders.
Early life and education
Baiget was born in Reus on 22 August 1971. She graduated in chemical engineering, specialising in industrial chemistry, from the Universidad Rovira i Virgili (URV), a university based in Tarragona and Reus. In 1998 she completed a Master of Business Administration at the same institution.
Career
Dow Chemical, 1995 to 2020
Baiget joined the multinational Dow Chemical Company in 1995, initially as an engineer at its linear low-density polyethylene plant in Tarragona. She went on to hold technical responsibility roles in plastics development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2009 Baiget was named global director of strategic development at Dow's headquarters in Midland. In 2012 she took the role of commercial director for elastomers, electrical products and telecommunications across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and relocated to Switzerland. In 2014 Baiget joined the board of MEGlobal, a joint venture between Dow and the Kuwaiti Petrochemical Industries Company. In 2016 she became president of Dow's industrial solutions business unit, her first position on the company's leadership team.
Novozymes, from 2020
On 1 February 2020, Baiget became president and chief executive officer of Novozymes, moving to Denmark to take up the post. The company produces enzymes used in applications including reducing the carbon footprint of detergents, producing proteins with a lower environmental impact, improving crop resistance and extending the shelf life of bread. As chief executive, Baiget has been a public advocate for biotechnology and for the role biosolutions can play in the transition away from fossil-based production.
In December 2023, Novozymes and the Danish bioscience company Chr. Hansen announced they had obtained regulatory approval to merge; the combined business was named Novonesis. The merger was finalised on 29 January 2024. The sourcing available for this article documents the merger but does not establish what title, if any, Baiget held afterward.
Climate and sustainability leadership
Since joining Novozymes in 2020, Baiget has held several external leadership positions in sustainability and climate policy. She serves on the board of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), where she is also its Sustainability Champion, and is a member of the CEO Action Group for the European Green Deal and of the World Economic Forum's Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders. In 2021 Baiget was named president of the Climate Partnership for Life Science and Biotechnology in Denmark. She is also a STEM ambassador and an active supporter of the Women's Innovation Network.
Recognition
In 2024 Baiget was named to Forbes' list of 50 global leaders making a tangible impact in the fight against the climate crisis. The same year she was included in Time magazine's TIME100 Climate list, which recognises business leaders driving action against climate change; the list cited her contribution to sustainable biosolutions and her leadership capacity.
Baiget continued as president and chief executive officer of Novonesis after the merger, a role she still held in 2026.
Assessment
Baiget's career shows a steady progression from a plant-level engineering post in Tarragona to global commercial and strategic roles at one of the world's largest chemical companies, culminating in a chief executive appointment at a listed biotechnology firm. Her public recognition through Forbes and Time in 2024 rests specifically on her association with sustainability and biosolutions messaging rather than on independently verified operating results; the material behind those honours comes from the honouring publications and from Novozymes' own account of her advocacy, not from independent financial or operational analysis. The record available also stops at the January 2024 merger of Novozymes into Novonesis: it establishes that the merger happened during her tenure but not her subsequent title or responsibilities, a gap this article notes rather than fills in.