ION Geophysical has appointed Chris Usher to succeed Brian Hanson as president and chief executive officer, following the retirement of Hanson and his resignation from board of directors, effective June 1, 2019.
Chris Usher previously served as executive vice president of ION’s Operations Optimization segment.
Hanson has had a long tenure at ION, serving as the chief financial officer from 2006 to 2011 and in his current role as president and CEO from 2011 to present.
“Brian has been instrumental in successfully navigating through one of the toughest industry downturns and transforming the company from a solutions provider to a streamlined technology company focused on delivering higher value, higher potential return offerings,” said Jay Lapeyre, chairman of the board. “On behalf of ION, I would like to extend our gratitude for his many contributions and years of service.”
Chris Usher brings over thirty years of energy and technology leadership to the role with hands-on experience in data processing and imaging, software development and new product commercialization.
Chris joined ION’s executive team in December 2012 and has run a number of ION’s businesses in the time since.
Usher is a graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology and geophysics.
“Serving as president and CEO of ION has been the most rewarding role of my career and I am proud of what we have accomplished,” said Brian Hanson. “After almost fifteen years at ION, I am ready to retire from public company life and am looking forward to pursuing other personal interests. Chris has been a key member of our executive team for many years and I am confident that under his leadership ION will continue to grow and prosper. He has an excellent track record and the right mix of leadership skills, industry knowledge and strategic vision to bring ION into the next era of digitalization and decision intelligence.”
Chris Usher added, “I am delighted to be selected for this role and am looking forward to working with our incredibly talented team to deliver long-term growth and value to our customers and shareholders as we enter a new market cycle. There are exciting opportunities ahead of us to build on ION’s traditional data library and imaging strengths, commercialize new technology we’ve been developing and modify our cutting-edge capabilities for new markets. Our leadership team is focused on matching our clients’ needs with innovative offerings that enable smarter decisions about their investments and operations.”