Indira Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2008

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi born October 28, 1955 is the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PepsiCo, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies. On August 14, 2006, Nooyi was named the successor to Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of the company effective October 1, 2006. On February 5, 2007, she was named Chairperson, effective May 2, 2007.

She is a Successor Fellow of the Yale Corporation.  She is a Class B director of the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve.  She serves as a member of the boards of theInternational Rescue Committee, Catalyst and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships, and currently serves as Chairperson of the U.S.-India Business Council.

Indra Nooyi was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She completed her schooling from Holy Angels AIHSS, Chennai. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1974 and Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell. She was admitted to Yale School of Management in 1978 and earned a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management. Graduating in 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi has directed the company’s global strategy for more than a decade and led PepsiCo’s restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought Gatorade to PepsiCo.  In 2007 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 44-year history.

Business officials rave at her ability to drive deep and hard while maintaining a sense of heart and fun. According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company’s annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion in 2006.

Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal‘s list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among Time‘s 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008.  Forbes named her the #3 most powerful woman in 2008.

Forbes magazine ranked Nooyi third on the 2008 and 2009 list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Fortune magazine has named Nooyi number one on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2008, Nooyi was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report.

In 2007, she was chosen as a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India.  In 2008, she was elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In January 2008, Nooyi was elected Chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a non-profit business advocacy organization representing more than 300 of the world’s largest companies doing business in India.  Nooyi leads USIBC’s Board of Directors, an assembly of more than 60 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry.

Indra Nooyi has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by Global Supply Chain Leaders Group.

Source: Indra Nooyi, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indra_Nooyi&oldid=334609992 (last visited Jan. 4, 2010).