Since 1987, when she joined the plant-nutrition company started by her father 40 years earlier, Kathy Bishop has been a leader in education.
For her efforts, Bishop (right), president and chief executive officer of Lebanon Seaboard Corp., has been awarded the 2025 E. Allen James Leadership Award by RISE — Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment. RISE is the trade association representing manufacturers, formulators, distributors and others in the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry. The association "advocates for science-based policies that support innovation and ensure access to tools that protect public health, food, property and green spaces."
Founded in 2009, the E. Allen James Leadership Award is named in honor of the association's first president and recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry. Bishop received the award at the organization's annual meeting on Aug. 26.
Lebanon was founded in 1947 as the Central Chemical Corp. of Lebanon (Pennsylvania) by Bishop's father, Vernon Bishop. Kathy Bishop joined the company in 1987 and was named CEO in 1994. She has led the company through strategic planning and acquisitions while serving the industry through leadership roles on the RISE governing board, the joint RISE–CropLife America Emerging Chemistry Issues Task Force and multiple policy initiatives.
"Kathy Bishop has been a top contributor to our industry for decades," said RISE chairman Neil Cleveland. "Her leadership has shaped everything from fertilizer committee work to defining biostimulants at the federal level. She embodies clarity, integrity, and an 'industry first/members first' mindset that has strengthened RISE and the broader specialty pesticide and fertilizer community."
Her commitment to education extends beyond the chemical and fertilizer industry.
In 2022, the Katherine J. Bishop Fund for Global Study was established in her name at Lebanon Valley College, where she has been a member of the board of trustees since 1987. The goals of the fund are to:
- Provide grants to students to help mitigate travel cost and other barriers associated with studying abroad.
- Allow the college to increase the number of short-term, study-abroad courses during summer and winter break.
- Enable the college to increase its one-week study abroad opportunities.
- Enhance and expand cultural exchanges through global university partnerships.
Bishop earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Wellesley College and a master's in management from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She pursued additional studies at Harvard University, the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Madrid in Spain. After graduating from MIT, she moved to California and later Australia, holding several executive positions throughout the next decade before returning to help run the company started by her father.