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 |
| Rupert Gasser |
70 | Swiss | Vice Chairman, Non-Executive Director |
2002 | 2009 |
| Peggy Bruzelius |
59 | Swedish | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2009 |
| Peter Doyle |
70 | British | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2009 |
| Pierre Landolt |
61 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2009 |
| 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 Weber |
58 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2000 | 2011 |
| Jürg Witmer |
60 | Swiss | Non-Executive Director | 2006 | 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.
Rupert Gasser
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Chairman’s and the Compensation Committees.
Rupert Gasser is currently President of Nestec SA and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Alcon Laboratories Inc. Formerly he was a non-executive
Director of Lonza Group AG (1999-2004), Executive Vice President of Nestlé SA (1997-2002), Head of Strategic Business Group I (Coffee and Beverages,
Milk and Food Services) and Head of Corporate Technical/Manufacturing and R&D worldwide (1991-1996) and Senior Vice President at Nestec SA (1990-1991).
Rupert Gasser graduated from the Technical Academy for Chemical Industry in Vienna with a degree in chemistry. In addition he participated in the Program
for Senior Executive Development at the IMD, Lausanne.
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, Axel Johnson AB and is a member of Lehman Brothers Ltd’s European Advisory Board. 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.
Peter Doyle
Director, Chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Board and member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee.
Peter Doyle is currently a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation; he is a Past Master of the Salters' Livery Company and currently Chairman of the Board of the
Salters' Institute. Previously he served as a non-executive Director of Avidex Ltd (2002- 2006), a member of the Advisory Board of Vida Capital Partners
(2003-2005), non-executive Director of Oxagen (1999-2002), non-executive Director of Oxford Molecular plc (1997-2000), Director of Zeneca Group plc
(1993-1999), Director of ICI (1989-1993) and as Chairman of the Biotechnology and Bioscience Research Council (1989-2003).
Peter Doyle holds a BSc (Hons) degree in pure science and a PhD in chemistry from Glasgow University.
Pierre Landolt
Director, member of the Audit Committee and the Corporate Responsibility Committee. He is also a member of the Foundation 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 serves as Chairman of AxialPar Ltda, Emasan AG, Moco
Agropecuaria Ltda, Ecocarbon LLC, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier SA and as Vice Chairman of Parmigiani SA. Pierre Landolt is also a Partner with unlimited
liabilities of the Private Bank Landolt & Cie. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation, President of the Instituto Fazenda
Tamanduá and Instituto Estrela de Fomento ao Microcrédito in Brazil. Formerly he served as Chairman of the CITCO Group (1995-2005).
Pierre Landolt graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Paris Assas.
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 recently 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 Audit Committee.
Rolf Watter has been a partner in the law firm Bär & Karrer in Zurich since 1994, 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 Chairman of Cablecom Holding AG, a non-executive Director of Zurich Financial
Services (and its subsidiary Zurich Insurance Company), Nobel Biocare Holding AG, UBS Alternative Portfolio AG and A.W. Faber-Castell (Holding) AG. He
formerly was 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 SWX 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 Weber is currently a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers Ltd., Vice Chairman of Publigroupe AG and a Director of Valora AG. Previously, he was 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), Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Adecco SA (1998-2004), Principal of McKinsey & Company in Zurich (1989-1997)
and Chief Executive Officer of Alusuisse South Africa (1982-1984).
Felix Weber graduated from the University of St. Gallen, with an MBA in operations research and finance and a PhD in marketing.
Jürg Witmer
Director and member of the Chairman’s Committee.
Jürg Witmer is currently Chairman of Givaudan SA and a Board member of Clariant AG and 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.
