Man of lists — Dr. Daniel Vasella

Taren Grom

One thing can be said about Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella, MD — he’s a list maker.
I’m not sure if he uses them to organize his busy day, but I do know that he ends up on a lot of them. As the well-known CEO steps aside for successor Joe Jimenez (he retains his chairman title), he makes another list: the longest-serving chief executive in the European pharmaceuticals industry to date, and the only physician to lead a major drug company, who motor bikes in the Alps.
Dr. Vasella’s accomplishments can be read in a myriad of lists. For example, his name appears on the Board of Directors directory for Pepsico and Alcon companies, on the membership registries for the Global Health Program Advisory Panel of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on the International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai, and on the International Board of Governors of the Peres Center for Peace in Israel. He also tops several honors lists, including being a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. And of course there are awards lists, like the Harvard Business School's Alumni Achievement Award, the Appeal of Conscience Award, the AJ Congress Humanitarian Award, and The CancerCare Human Services Award, to name few.
Dr. Vasellas has been voted the most influential European businessman of the past 25 years by the readership of the Financial Times, and named one of the world's 100 Most Influential People by Time in 2004.
All the coverage is not positive, however. This past summer, he even made the hit list of an animal rights activist group, which painted the word "murderer" on his local church, desecrated the graves of his sister and parents, and set fire to his Austrian vacation home. Most of all, Dr. Vasella is a favorite of our list — the PharmaVOICE 100, published in our July/August edition.
Dr. Vasella has been nominated not just once, but three times, to our list — in 2005, 2006, and 2009.
The PharmaVOICE 100 is a yearly feature of our publication that highlights the top 100 most inspiring people in the life sciences industry, as nominated by their peers.
To read Dr. Vasella’s Top 100 biographies see the links below, or to nominate someone you know to this year’s list, please visit http://www.pharmavoice.com/PV100.


Dr. Vasella - PharmaVOICE 100 - 2005, download article now!
http://www.pharmavoice.com/Vassella2005
Dr. Vasella - PharmaVOICE 100 - 2006, download article now!
http://www.pharmavoice.com/Vassella2006
Dr. Vasella - PharmaVOICE 100 - 2009, download article now!
http://www.pharmavoice.com/Vassella2009