JEFFREY B. KINDLER
Jeff Kindler is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based biopharmaceutical company, from which he retired in December 2010. He joined Pfizer in January 2002 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and, prior to his appointment as CEO in July 2006, served as a Vice Chairman of the company.
Jeff earned his BA in 1977 from Tufts University summa cum laude and his JD in 1980 from Harvard magna cum laude, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He began his legal career as an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission. He then served as law clerk to Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit and later as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
He practiced civil and criminal litigation at the Washington D.C. firm of Williams & Connolly, where he became a partner. In 1990, he joined the General Electric Company in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he was Vice President of Litigation and Legal Policy. In 1996, he joined McDonald’s Corporation as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for both legal and corporate affairs (which included philanthropy, government affairs, compliance, and communications).
While at McDonald’s, he moved into line management as President of Partner Brands. This operating unit, with more than 50,000 employees worldwide, included several restaurant brands such as Boston Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Donato’s Pizza, and Pret a Manger.
Jeff is a director at Starboard Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Southport, Connecticut. He currently serves on the boards of Intrexon, a privately held synthetic biology company; Tufts University; the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; and the Manhattan Theatre Club and is a member of the President Obama’s Management Advisory Board. He previously served as Chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council and as a member of the President’s Export Council, the Shanghai Mayor’s Business Advisory Council, and the Business Roundtable. He has also previously served as a member of the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, the United Way of New York City, the Legal Aid Society of New York, and Lincoln Center.
Jeff was elected to the Tufts University Board of Trustees in 2006.
Last updated: November 2011
