Werner Geissler (born 1953) is a German businessman, with extensive experience in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Japan, Europe and Emerging Markets.Forbes
/ref>Bloomberg BusinessWeek
/ref>Procter & Gamble biography
/ref>IMD biography
/ref>

Biography

Early life

Werner Geissler was born in 1953 in Hachenburg, Heuzert, Germany. After graduation from the Gymnasium Marienstatt in 1972, he joined the Air Force. He received an M.B.A. (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

in 1979.

Career

He joined

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

as Assistant Brand Manager after graduation in 1979. He held positions of increasing scope and responsibility in Marketing/Brand Management (e.g. BM for Mr. Proper, Pampers) before becoming Marketing Director in Holland and Germany. In 1991, he was promoted to General Manager of a new Cosmetics and Fragrances business unit before becoming Vice President of Fine Fragrances for the Western Hemisphere, based in Santa Monica/California. Following stints as Vice President for the Laundry, Cleaning & Paper business in Germany as well as subsequently for P&G's operation in Turkey/Caucasia/Central Asia, Geissler became President of P&G's business in Northeast Asia in 2001. In 2004 he was promoted to Group President for the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa business unit. In July 2007, he became Vice Chairman in charge of Global Operations with responsibility for all country and manufacturing operations globally and served in this capacity until his retirement in January 2015, after almost 36 years of service. Post-retirement, Geissler has been an Operating Partner at the Private Equity Firm Advent International. He is also an active investor in several Start ups covering a broad range of industries. Amongst those are Pedilay (a novel foot care product); Spindiag (a new-to-the-world approach to rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases) and HealthVector, a unique health tracking and medical record administration tool based in Boston. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Philip Morris International, and he is a member of the

World Business Council for Sustainable Development The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a CEO-led organization of over 200 international companies. The Council is also connected to 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations. Its origins d ...

. He has been an Advisor to the Governor of the

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He has served on the Supervisory Board of the International Institute for Management Development in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

from 2007 to 2017, on the Management Board of GS 1 from 2008 to 2015, and on the Summit Committee of the

Consumer Goods Forum The Consumer Goods Forum is a global organization of 400 consumer goods companies with the likes of Amazon and Kellogg being involved. It represents combined sales of 2.5 trillion Euros across 70 countries and 10 million employees. Overview The C ...

.GS1 Governance
/ref> He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the

International University in Geneva The International Institute in Geneva (IIG) -- formerly known as International University in Geneva - IUN or IUG), founded in 1997, is a private business school

. Geissler has also served on the BoD of economiesuisse. In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the International University in Geneva and in 2013, Geissler was appointed Visiting Professor at China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong/Shanghai (CELAP).

Personal life

Geissler and his family have lived in places like Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, Istanbul, Kobe, Geneva and Cincinnati. He is now based in Munich. In 2012, he served as International Chair of the World Choir Games. In 2018, he served as "Schirmherr"of the 750th Anniversary of his birthplace, Heuzert/Westerwald. He is married to his wife Sabine and has 2 daughters, Anna and Lena.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geissler, Wener Businesspeople from Rhineland-Palatinate Procter & Gamble people 1953 births Living people Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company people Businesspeople from Cincinnati People from Westerwaldkreis German expatriates in the United States University of Cologne alumni