Robert Pelzer

President and Chief Executive Officer, Novartis Corporation

Robert Pelzer has served as a director since May 2003.  Mr. Pelzer is President and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis Corporation.  In this position, which he assumed in September 2008, he is responsible for the Novartis Group Companies in North America and the Novartis US Foundation. Previously, Mr. Pelzer was Global General Counsel and Head of Legal Services of Novartis Pharma AG, based in Basel, Switzerland.  He also served as a member of the Novartis Pharma Executive Committee.  Prior to joining Novartis in 2002, Mr. Pelzer was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at DuPont Pharmaceuticals based in Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Pelzer also held a variety of positions within the DuPont organization, including Director and General Manager for the European oil and gas business and Vice President and General Counsel of Conoco Canada Limited in Calgary, Canada.  He began his legal career at the law firm of MacKimmie Matthews in Calgary.  A graduate of the University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, Mr. Pelzer earned degrees in Commerce and in Law.