Sixty-four-year-old Fearon is currently the vice chairman and chief financial and planning officer of Eaton Corporation plc, a global power management company, roles he has held since 2009 and 2002, respectively. The US national has responsibility and oversight for a number of key operational and strategic functions at Eaton, including accounting, control, corporate development, information systems, internal audit, investor relations, strategic planning, tax and treasury functions.
Fearon will retire as an executive and from the board of Eaton at the end of March 2021. Prior to joining Eaton, Fearon served in development and strategic planning management positions at several large diversified companies, including as senior vice president of corporate development at Transamerica Corporation, general manager of Corporate Development for Singapore-based NatSteel and director of Strategic Planning at The Walt Disney Company. He has also served as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, Booz Allen Hamilton and Willow Place Partners.
Fearon serves on the boards of Avient Corporation, where he is the lead director, and Crown Holdings. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University, a Master’s of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.
McKay, 61, was until July 2020 chief transition officer of BP. During a 40 year career in Amoco and subsequently with BP, following the merger of the two companies, the US national held a variety of senior executive roles, including responsibility for BP’s interests in the TNK-BP joint venture, chairman and CEO of BP Americas (during which period he acted as president of the Gulf Coast Restoration Organisation and CEO for BP’s worldwide Upstream Division). From April 2016 to February 2020 McKay was deputy Group CEO of BP, a role in which he had a wide range of accountabilities, including safety, operational risk, legal affairs, technology, economic insight, long-range planning and strategy with the latter responsibilities particularly influencing capital allocation planning and BP’s sustainability initiatives.
McKay holds a Bachelor of Science from Mississippi State University.
Commenting on the appointments, which became effective on Thursday 3 December, Richie Boucher, CRH chairman, said: “We are delighted that Rick and Lamar have joined the Board. They bring deep financial and operational expertise from their senior executive roles in capital intensive, global industrial businesses. Their intimate knowledge of the markets in which CRH operates, including North America, together with experience in risk management and sustainable business practices, will be a valuable resource for our Board as we continue to execute on our strategy and to drive shareholder value.”
