KARL P. RONN is the Vice President-Research & Development, Health Care and General Manager, New Businesses at Proctor & Gamble. He is currently responsible for managing worldwide Research & Development for Procter & Gamble’s multi-billion dollar Health Care business. This includes both prescription drugs and OTC products. The largest brands are Actonel, Prilosec, Vicks, Metamucil and PuR. Additionally is the General Manager for Health Care New Businesses including Swiss Precision Diagnostics, a Joint Venture between Inverness Medical and P&G for home diagnostics. He also sponsors the Corporate Disruptive Market Innovation group which works with all P&G business units to create new markets or reinvent existing ones. Until recently he managed the Research & Development for P&G’s Home Care and Gillette’s Duracell businesses. The Home Care brands include well established Mr. Clean, Dawn, Joy, Ivory and Cascade in North America and their counterparts Flash and Fairy globally. Mr. Clean in particular is an example of the success in reinventing older brands in a way that gives them new life. We also developed Swiffer and Febreze, two fast growing new brands that created new to the world categories. Prior to his Home Care responsibilities, he has had R&D responsibility for Fabric and Home Care New Business Development, Corporate Innovation, Deodorants & Mass Fragrances, Pampers and Always. He also spent 6 years based in Caracas, Venezuela establishing the Latin American Division’s Diaper and Maxipad businesses which included global product development for low cost diaper entries into China, Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Poland and Turkey. A native of Ohio, he was born in Cleveland and grew up in Toledo before moving to Cincinnati. He was graduated in 1980 from the University of Toledo with a BS in Chemical Engineering. He and his wife, Elizabeth, who is also a vice-president at P&G live in Cincinnati and have two children, Alan and Juliana. With a strong passion to grow the next generation of innovative leaders, he is a member of the University of Toledo’s Engineering Board and gives frequent talks on innovation. He also has a passion for music and serves on the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra where he is the head of the Marketing and Public Relations Committees of the Board.
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