James C. Collins, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience™. He was previously Chief Operating Officer for the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. Prior to the DowDuPont merger, he was an Executive Vice President for DuPont responsible for the Agriculture segments, which included DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer.
Starting with the announcement of the DowDuPont merger, Mr. Collins led the integration of legacy DuPont and Dow agricultural businesses to drive readiness for the ultimate spin of Corteva – a new leading pure-play agriculture company – which successfully separated from DowDuPont on June 1, 2019. During this time-period, Mr. Collins drove execution actions that will lead to the realization of aggressive mid-term net sales and operating EBITDA growth targets for the business. This includes launching 14 new products from the innovation pipeline, implementing a multi-channel, multi-brand growth strategy, and making significant progress toward a best-in-class cost structure.
Mr. Collins joined DuPont in 1984 and has since served in key leadership roles across several DuPont businesses. His work in the Agriculture segment began over 35 years ago, as a sales representative and product manager, and he subsequently held roles supporting seed and crop protection businesses for DuPont around the world. Prior to leading the Agriculture segment, he led two other large DuPont business segments, Performance Materials and Electronics & Communications.
Mr. Collins has a bachelor’s degree of science in Chemical Engineering from Christian Brothers College and an MBA focused on international business from the University of Delaware.
He currently serves on the board of directors for CropLife International, Longwood Gardens and is a Champion of the Crop Trust's Food Forever Initiative. A supporter of youth education and leadership development, Mr. Collins also serves on the National 4‑H Council Board and University of Tennessee Lone Oaks Farm Advisory Council. He has also been awarded an honorary American FFA Degree for his efforts to promote agriculture education with youth in the United States.
