In 1973 Professor Srikant Datar graduated with distinction in mathematics and economics at the University of Bombay. After his studies he worked as Accountant, Planner as well as Visiting Professor and Professor at the Universities of Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and Harvard in the US. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds two masters degrees and a PhD from Stanford University. Srikant Datar holds the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professorship at Harvard University. He is currently the Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education at the Harvard Business School. His research interests are in the areas of cost management, measurement of productivity, new product development, time-based competition, incentives and performance evaluation. He is the author of many scientific publications and has received several academic awards and honors. Srikant Datar has advised and worked with numerous renowned firms such as Du Pont, General Motors and Mellon Bank in research, development and training. He is also a member of the Board of Voyan Technology Inc., Santa Clara, California, and of Harvard Business School Interactive, Boston, Massachusetts.

After completing commercial school and an apprenticeship at the Bernese Cantonal Bank in Interlaken, Walter G. Frehner broadened his experience both in Switzerland and abroad. In 1958 he joined Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS) where he held a number of increasingly senior positions. He was appointed General Manager and member of the Executive Board in 1978, President of the Executive Board (CEO) in 1987 and Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1993 from which position he retired in 1996. Walter G. Frehner has been a member of the Board of Directors of Ciba- Geigy AG since 1994 and of Novartis AG since the merger in 1996. In 2001, he became a member of the Audit and Compliance Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Bâloise Holding AG, Basel, Switzerland, where he is also the Vice Chairman.

William W. George received his BSIE from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1964 and his MBA from Harvard University in 1966. From 1966 to 1969, he worked in the US Department of Defense as special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and as assistant to the Comptroller. After having served as President of Litton Microwave Cooking Products, William W. George held a series of executive positions with Honeywell from 1978 to 1989. Thereafter he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Medtronic, Inc. in Minneapolis, and, from 1991 to 2001, as its Chief Executive Officer. From 1996 to 2002, he was Medtronic’s Chairman. In 1999, William W. George was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of Novartis AG. In 2001, he became a member of the Chairman’s Committee and the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee. William W. George is a member of the Boards of Directors of Goldman Sachs and Target Corporation (formerly Dayton Hudson). He is Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, having served as Executive-in-Residence at Yale School of Management and Professor of Leadership and Governance at IMD International in Lausanne, Switzerland. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Harvard Business School, National Association of Corporate Directors, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Alexandre F. Jetzer studied law and economics at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland and is a licensed attorney. After more than ten years as General Secretary of the Swiss Federation of Commerce and Industry (Vorort), Alexandre F. Jetzer joined Sandoz in 1980. In 1981 he became Member of its Group Executive Committee in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and, as of 1990, as Head of Management Resources and International Coordination. From 1995 to 1996, he was Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation in East Hanover, New Jersey (US). From the time of the merger in 1996 until 1999, he was a member of the Novartis Executive Committee and Head of International Coordination, Legal & Taxes. Alexandre F. Jetzer has served as a Director of Novartis AG since its formation in 1996. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Clariden Bank, Zurich, Switzerland.

Pierre Landolt graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Paris-Assas. From 1974 to 1976, he worked for Sandoz Brazil. In 1977, he acquired an agricultural estate in Brazil, cultivating organic tropical fruit as well as producing dairy products. In 1989, he founded a firm for irrigation systems. In the same year, he became the main associate and director of a bank in São Paulo. Since 1997 Pierre Landolt has been Associate and Chairman of Axial Par Ltda, São Paulo, a company investing in sustainability. In 2000, he was co-founder of Eco Carbone LLC, Delaware, US, a company focused on the development of carbon sequestration processes in Europe, Africa and South America. In 1986, Pierre Landolt was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of Sandoz AG and he has served as a Director of Novartis AG since its formation in 1996. Pierre Landolt is the President of the Sandoz Family Foundation, Glaris, Switzerland, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Landolt Kapital SA, Pully, Switzerland, and of Emasan AG, Basel, Switzerland. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Syngenta AG, and of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, both in Basel, Switzerland. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Curacao International Trust Company, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier SA., Fleurier, Switzerland (Chairman), and as Vice Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Parmigiani, Mesure et Art du Temps S.A., Fleurier, Switzerland, and the Fondation du Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland.