Daniel vasella biography

Chief Executive Officer of Novartis

Born in 1953 in Fribourg, Switzerland; son of Oskar (a history professor) Vasella; married Anne-Laurence, 1978; children: one daughter, two sons.

Education: University of Bern, M.D., 1979.

Addresses:Office—Novartis International AG, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.

Career

Doctor, University of Bern, 1984-88; joined Sandoz Pharma, 1988; named chief executive officer of Sandoz Pharma, 1994; named chief executive officer of Novartis, 1996; named chairman of Novartis, 1999; co-authored Magic Cancer Bullet: How a Tiny Orange Pill is Rewriting Medical History, 2003.

Awards: Named one of the world's "100 Most Influential People" by Time, 2004; voted Europe's most influential business leader of the last 25 years by readers of the Financial Times; Pharmaceutical Executive of the Year, Pharmaceutical Achievement Awards, 2004.

Sidelights

In eight years, Daniel Vasella went from being a doctor to becoming the head of Novart