John Hofmeister was the president of Shell Oil Company (USA) from 2005 to 2008 and director of human resources. Mr Hofmeister had also held executive leadership positions in General Electric Company, Nortel Network Corporation and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell International Inc).
Based in Houston, he has also lived and worked in Hong Kong, London and The Hague.
He founded Citizens for Affordable Energy, and is a member of the United States Energy Security Council.
Mr Hofmeister was chair of the National Urban League in the US and the Greater Houston Partnership. He teaches at Arizona State University, University of Houston and Kansas State University; and is the founder and chief executive of Citizens for Affordable Energy which is a not-for-profit NGO headquartered in Washington DC.