Board of Directors
at January 1, 2009
| Name | Age | Nationality | Function | Director since |
Term of office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Taylor |
56 | British | Chairman, Non-Executive Director |
2000 | 2011 |
| Michael Mack |
48 | American | Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director |
2008 | 2010 |
| Jürg Witmer** | 60 | Swiss | Vice Chairman, Non-Executive Director |
2006 | 2012 |
| Stefan Borgas* |
44 | German | Non-Executive Director | 2009 | 2012 |
| Peggy Bruzelius |
59 | Swedish | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2012 |
| Pierre Landolt |
61 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2012 |
| David Lawrence* |
59 | British | Non-Executive Director | 2009 | 2012 |
| Peter Thompson |
62 | American | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2011 |
| Jacques Vincent |
62 | French | Non-Executive Director | 2005 | 2010 |
| Rolf Watter |
50 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2011 |
| Felix A. Weber |
58 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2011 |
* Elected to the Board at the AGM of April 21, 2009
** Vice-Chairman of the Board since the AGM of April 21, 2009
Syngenta is led by a strong and experienced Board. The Board includes representatives from five nationalities, drawn from broad international business and scientific backgrounds. Its members bring diversity in expertise and perspective to the leadership of a complex, highly regulated, global business.
Martin Taylor
Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Chairman’s Committee and the Corporate Responsibility Committee and member of the Compensation Committee. He is also Chairman of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
Martin Taylor is currently Vice Chairman of RTL Group SA. Previously he was an Advisor to Goldman Sachs International (1999–2005), Chairman of WHSmith plc (1999–2003) and Chief Executive Officer of Barclays plc (1993–1998) and Courtaulds Textiles (1990–1993).
Martin Taylor has a degree in oriental languages from Oxford University.
Michael Mack
Chief Executive Officer, Director and member of the Chairman’s Committee and the Corporate Responsibility Committee.
Michael Mack was Chief Operating Officer of Seeds (2004–2007) and Head of Crop Protection, NAFTA Region (2002–2004) for Syngenta. Prior to this, he was President of the Global Paper Division of Imerys SA, a French mining and pigments concern, from the time of its merger in 1999 with English China Clays Ltd., where he was Executive Vice President, Americas and Pacific Region, in addition to being an Executive Director of the Board. From 1987 to 1996 he held various roles with Mead Corporation.
He has a degree in economics from Kalamazoo College in Michigan, studied at the University of Strasbourg, and has an MBA from Harvard University.
Jürg Witmer
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and of the Compensation Committee.
Jürg Witmer is currently Chairman of Givaudan SA and Clariant AG. He is a Board member of Bank Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. (Schweiz) AG. From 1999 to 2005 he was CEO of Givaudan Group. Between 1978 and 1999 he held various management positions within Roche, including General Manager of Roche Austria, Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Roche Headquarters Basel, General Manager and Regional Marketing Manager of Roche Far East in Hong Kong and Assistant to the Chairman and CEO of the Roche Group.
Jürg Witmer has a doctorate in law from the University of Zurich, as well as a degree in International Studies from the University of Geneva.
Stefan Borgas
Director and member of the Audit Committee.
Stefan Borgas is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lonza since June 2004. Prior to joining Lonza, he held various senior positions for BASF Group, most recently as Group Vice President, Regional Business Unit Fine Chemicals North America (2003–2004). Other positions included Group Vice President, Regional Business Unit Fine Chemicals Europe, Africa, Middle East (2001–2003), Director Strategic Marketing Animal Nutrition, Fine Chemicals (1998–2001), and Group Logistics Manager, Engineering Plastics (1995–1998).
Stefan Borgas holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Saarbrücken and a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen.
Peggy Bruzelius
Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Peggy Bruzelius is currently Chairman of Lancelot Holding AB. In addition she serves as Vice Chairman of Electrolux AB and as a Director of Scania AB, Husqvarna AB, Akzo Nobel NV, Axfood AB and Axel Johnson AB. Peggy Bruzelius is Chairman of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. In addition she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Stockholm School of Economics. Previously she was Executive Vice President of SEB-bank (1997–1998) and Chief Executive Officer of ABB Financial Services (1991–1997).
Peggy Bruzelius holds a Master of Science from the Stockholm School of Economics and an Honorary Doctorate from the same university.
Pierre Landolt
Director and member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee. He is also a member of the Board of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
Pierre Landolt is currently Chairman of the Sandoz Family Foundation and a Director of Novartis AG. He is also a partner with unlimited liabilities of the private bank Landolt & Cie. Pierre Landolt serves, in Brazil, as President of the Instituto Fazenda Tamanduá, of the Instituto Estrela de Fomento ao Microcrédito, of AxialPar Ltda and Moco Agropecuaria Ltda, and, in Switzerland, as Chairman of Emasan AG and Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier SA and as Vice-Chairman of Parmigiani Fleurier SA. He is a Director of EcoCarbone SA and Amazentis SA and was formerly Chairman of the CITCO Group (1995–2005). He is also Vice-Chairman of the Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation.
Pierre Landolt graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Paris Assas.
David Lawrence
Director, member of the Coporate Responsibility Committee and Chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Board.
David Lawrence was Head of Research & Development at Syngenta from September 1, 2002 until the end of September, 2008. Prior to his function as Head of Research & Development, David Lawrence was Head Research & Technology Projects (2000–2002) for Syngenta. Prior to this, he was Head International R&D Projects for Zeneca Agrochemicals, having previously held several senior scientific roles.
David Lawrence graduated in chemistry from Oxford University with an MA and DPhil in chemical pharmacology.
Peter Thompson
Director and member of the Audit Committee.
Peter Thompson is currently a Director of Sodexho Alliance SA. Previously he was President and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Beverages International (1996–2004), President of PepsiCo Foods International’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Division (1995–1996) and of Walkers Snack Foods in the UK (1994–1995). Before joining PepsiCo he held various senior management roles with Grand Metropolitan plc, including President and Chief Executive Officer of GrandMet Foods Europe (1992–1994), Vice Chairman of The Pillsbury Company (1990–1992) and President and Chief Executive Officer of The Paddington Corporation (1984–1990).
Peter Thompson has a degree in modern languages from Oxford University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Jacques Vincent
Director and member of the Compensation Committee.
Jacques Vincent has been Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the Danone Group, Paris, since 1998, and has been appointed Vice Chairman and Advisor to the Chairman as of January 1, 2008. He began his career with Danone in 1970 and has since held various financial and overall management positions within this group.
Jacques Vincent is a graduate engineer of the Ecole Centrale, Paris, holds a bachelor in Economics from Paris University and a Master of Science from Stanford University.
Rolf Watter
Director and member of the Chairman's Committee.
Rolf Watter has been a partner in the law firm Bär & Karrer in Zurich since 1994, is a member of its executive board since 2000 and an Executive Director since the incorporation of Bär & Karrer AG in 2007. He is a non-executive Director of Zurich Financial Services (and its subsidiary Zurich Insurance Company), of Nobel Biocare Holding AG, of UBS Alternative Portfolio AG and A.W. Faber-Castell (Holding) AG. He formerly was non-executive Chairman of Cablecom Holding (2003–2008), a Director of Centerpulse AG (2002–2003), of Forbo Holding AG (1999–2005) and of Feldschlösschen Getränke AG (2001–2004). In addition, Rolf Watter is a part-time professor at the Law School of the University of Zurich and
a member of the SIX Swiss Exchange Admission Board and its Disclosure Commission of Experts.
Rolf Watter graduated from the University of Zurich with a doctorate in law and holds an LLM degree from Georgetown University; he is admitted to the Bar of Zurich.
Felix A. Weber
Director and Chairman of the Compensation Committee.
Felix A. Weber is currently a Managing Director of Nomura International Ltd. and a Director of Publigroupe. Previously, he was a Director of Valora (2006–2008), a Director of Glacier Holdings GP SA and Glacier Holdings S.C.A (which are the former parent entities of Cablecom GmbH) (2003–2005), a Director of Cablecom GmbH (2004–2005), Managing Director of Lehman Brothers Ltd. (2006–2008), Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Adecco SA (1998–2004), Associate Project Manager and Principal of McKinsey & Company in Zurich (1989–1997) and Chief Executive Officer of Alusuisse South Africa (1982–1984).
Felix A. Weber graduated from the University of St. Gallen, with an MBA in operations research and finance and a PhD in marketing.
