Former Pfizer Chairman & CEO to Guide Exclusive Leadership Program for Senior Executives; Faculty Includes Diverse Group of Prominent Private and Public Sector Leaders
New York, New York; October 17, 2014 — GLG today announced the appointment of former Pfizer Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler as the Global Chair of the GLG Institute (www.GLGInstitute.com), a membership-based learning community for leading executives. The GLG Institute pairs its members – executives operating in increasingly complex business, regulatory, and technological environments – with prominent chief executives, technologists, scientists, and policy leaders for counsel, mentorship, advice, and network-building.
“Our mission is to transform the way the world’s top professionals share expertise and learn, and the GLG Institute reflects one of the ways we are innovating into that opportunity, especially for senior executives at the world’s largest companies,” said GLG President and CEO Alexander Saint-Amand. “As the Institute’s first Global Chair, Jeff will bring insights into business, leadership, and innovation from a C-suite career that has spanned decades in healthcare, consumer technology, corporate law, and global franchise management.”
“Jeff has had a remarkably successful and varied career across industries, and we’re proud to have him drive this unique offering with us,” said GLG Head of New Markets John Donoghue, who will work closely with Kindler on the development of the Institute. “He understands that executives today face more complex operating environments than ever before and that they need to engage constantly with seasoned executives in order to learn, network, and grow.”
The GLG Institute applies GLG’s learning principles and resources in an exclusive, collaborative, and challenging environment. Membership in the Institute is by invitation and reserved for rising and senior executives at multinational corporations. Members and faculty convene hundreds of times a year around the world in small groups to learn, network, and build skills. In his new role at GLG, Kindler will develop the Institute membership and faculty across industry verticals, curate and lead group meetings, and provide counsel and advice to individual members on their most pressing business challenges and development imperatives.
Kindler added, “There’s no substitute for mentorship from people who have been around, who have had both successes and failures, and have seen what works and what doesn’t. The GLG Institute creates a great environment for exactly that kind of learning, and that’s why I’m a part of it.”
Kindler’s career includes stints at the top of some of the world’s most recognized companies. Kindler joined Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based biopharmaceutical company, in 2002 and was named CEO in 2006. He was a senior leader at McDonalds Corporation from 1997 to 2001, joining as General Counsel before moving into management and becoming the business leader for McDonald’s owned brands, including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Boston Market, Pret a Manger, and others. Kindler was previously an officer at General Electric Company from 1990 to 1996, and an attorney in Washington, D.C. from 1980 to 1990.
Since retiring from Pfizer in 2010, Kindler has been active in venture capital and private equity across the healthcare sector. He sits on a number of publicly and privately held healthcare boards as well as several nonprofit boards, including Tufts University, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. Kindler also serves on President Obama’s Management Advisory Board.
Kindler brings to GLG a commitment to corporate citizenship and social responsibility, which will inform both education and recruitment for the GLG Institute. He worked with former President Bill Clinton to help bring medicines to impoverished patients in the developing world through public-private pharmaceutical partnerships. He also represented the pharmaceutical industry in U.S. government healthcare reform efforts, helping to increase access to affordable medicines while preserving an environment in which pharmaceutical firms can discover and develop innovative treatments.
The GLG Institute faculty includes former industry leaders David Brennan (CEO, AstraZeneca), Jan Fields (CEO, McDonald’s), Neil Golden (CMO, McDonald’s USA), Pierre-Henri Gourgeon (CEO, Air France), Craig Herkert (CEO, Walmart Americas; CEO SuperValu), Dawn Hudson (CEO and President, Pepsi North America), Steve Meller (CIO, Proctor & Gamble), Dave Peacock (President & CEO, Anheuser-Busch), Myrtle Potter (COO, Genentech), and Shlomo Yanai (President and CEO, Teva Pharmaceuticals), among others. Former public sector leaders on the Institute faculty include Wesley Clark (U.S. Army General; NATO Supreme Allied Commander), Howard Dean (Vermont Governor; DNC Chairman), Barney Frank (U.S. Representative), and Mark McClellan (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator; FDA commissioner).
About the GLG Institute
The GLG Institute pairs its members – executives operating in increasingly complex business, regulatory, and technological environments – with prominent chief executives, technologists, scientists, and policy leaders for counsel, mentorship, advice, and network-building. We host hundreds of small meetings every year, around the world. We have two levels of membership: Leadership15, designed by our executive faculty for rising executives who have been identified by their employers and colleagues as high-potential, and ONE, designed by our executive faculty for CXOs. Membership in the GLG Institute is by application. To find out more, visit www.GLGInstitute.com and follow @GLGInstitute.
About GLG / Gerson Lehrman Group
GLG is transforming the way the world’s top professionals share expertise and learn. GLG curates custom learning experiences among professionals and thought leaders across fields, within a rigorous compliance framework. GLG scales one-to-one learning through conversations, mentorships, small group convenings, surveys, and other interactions with its network of more than 400,000 experts. Global, technology-driven, and nimble, GLG is the world’s largest membership for professional learning and expertise. Its 900 employees work in 21 offices in 12 countries. To find out more, visit www.GLG.it and follow @GLG.
About the GLG Institute
The GLG Institute pairs its members – executives operating in increasingly complex business, regulatory, and technological environments – with prominent chief executives, technologists, scientists, and policy leaders for counsel, mentorship, advice, and network-building. We host hundreds of small meetings every year, around the world. We have two levels of membership: Leadership15, designed by our executive faculty for rising executives who have been identified by their employers and colleagues as high-potential, and ONE, designed by our executive faculty for CXOs. Membership in the GLG Institute is by application. To find out more, visit www.GLGInstitute.com and follow @GLGInstitute.
Contact: press@glg.it