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Neville Isdell

CSIS Trustee
Neville Isdell was elected chairman of the board and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company in June 2004, becoming the 12th chairman in the company’s history. A native of Ireland, he joined Coca-Cola in 1966 with the local bottling company in Zambia. In 1972 he became general manager of Coca-Cola Bottling of Johannesburg, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa. He was named region manager for Australia in 1980 and in 1981 became president of the bottling joint venture between the Coca-Cola Company and San Miguel Corporation in the Philippines, where he oversaw the turnaround and renewal of the Coca-Cola business in that key country. Mr. Isdell moved to Germany as president of the company’s Central European Division in 1985. In 1989 as senior vice president of the company and president of the Northeast Europe/Africa Group, he led the company’s entry into new markets in India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. In 1995 he was named president of the Greater Europe Group. From July 1998 to September 2000, Mr. Isdell served as chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Plc in Great Britain, where he oversaw that company’s merger with Hellenic Bottling to form Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC). He retired as vice chairman of Coca-Cola HBC in December 2001. From January 2002 to May 2004, Mr. Isdell was an international consultant to the Coca-Cola Company and headed his own investment company in Barbados. Mr. Isdell is chairman of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and a member of the boards of the International Business Leaders Forum, the United States Council for International Business, and CSIS. He is also a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS. In Atlanta, Mr. Isdell serves on the boards of SunTrust Banks, Inc., and the Commerce Club and as a trustee of Emory University. He is a lifetime trustee of Pace Academy. Mr. Isdell received a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the University of Cape Town and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.
 

 

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