Ms Karen Dobson

Karen Dobson
Managing Director
Dow Australia and New Zealand

Karen Dobson is Managing Director of Dow Australia and New Zealand, based in Melbourne, Australia. 

Having joined Dow’s Australian manufacturing operations as a graduate chemical engineer from the University of Melbourne, Karen has over 35 years’ experience with the company.  She has held a variety of technical, marketing and business management roles in that time, including global roles in Dow’s water treatment technologies and mining chemicals businesses, based over the years in Hong Kong, the United States and China.

Karen is the Chair of Chemistry Australia and serves on the Board of the Business Council of Australia. She is a member of the Australian Industry Group’s Victorian and National Advisory Councils, and is a Council member of the Royal Institution of Australia.

Karen was appointed as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2024.