Hugh Grant was chairman and chief executive officer of the former Monsanto Company. He joined Monsanto in 1981 and spent the next 37 years working on three continents in a variety of positions, including Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and President. He held the roles of Chairman and CEO from 2003 until his departure in 2018, after successfully leading the $60 billion sale to Bayer.
Monsanto and Grant were recognized by numerous groups for innovation, corporate responsibility, and business leadership during his tenure. Grant has been named on Barron’s list of Most Respected CEOs, the Harvard Business Review’s Top 50 Best Performing CEOs, and recognized as “CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive Magazine. In 2015, employee reviews also earned Grant an honor on the Top 10 Highest-Rated CEOs list by Glassdoor.com.
Grant serves as lead director of PPG Industries, Inc., and recently joined the board of Freeport McMoRan and Invaio Sciences. He is also a former member of Civic Progress in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2011, he was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Born in Larkhall, Scotland, Grant earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural zoology with Honors at Glasgow University. He also earned a postgraduate degree in agriculture at Edinburgh University and a Master of Business Administration degree at the International Management Centre in Buckingham, United Kingdom.