John Van Sims — Senior VP and President of Europe, The Middle East, Africa & Russia at International Paper Company

Mr. John Van Sims has been President of Europe, the Middle East, Africa & Russia at International Paper Company since July 01, 2016 and has been its Senior Vice President since July 15, 2016. Mr. Sims served as Vice President of International Paper Company from July 1, 2016 to July 15, 2016. Mr. Sims has worked in the paper industry since 1994 when he joined International Paper. He became Vice President and General Manager, European Papers at International Paper in March 2016 and prior to that served as the vice president & general manager for its North American Papers business since 2014. He has been an Officer of at International Paper since 2008 when he was appointed as vice president Strategic Planning for International Paper. He then served as Vice President Finance & Strategy for at International Paper's North American Industrial Packaging business before assuming general management responsibility for the US Imaging Papers business and then for the North American Papers division. He was with the U.S. Navy for seven years. He has been a Member of the Board of Directors at Open Joint-Stock Company ILIM Group since October 2016. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from the University of Michigan.