Board of Directors
Henrik Gürtler, Member of the board
Henrik Gürtler has been president and CEO of Novo A/S, Denmark, since 2000. He was employed by Novo Industri A/S, Denmark, as an R&D chemist in the Enzymes Division in 1977. After a number of years in various specialist and managerial positions within this area, Mr Gürtler was appointed corporate vice president of Human Resource Development in Novo Nordisk A/S in 1991, and in 1993 he was appointed corporate vice president of Health Care Production. From 1996 to 2000 he was a member of Corporate Management of Novo Nordisk A/S with special responsibility for Corporate Staffs.
Mr Gürtler is chairman of the boards of Novozymes A/S, Copenhagen Airports A/S and COWI A/S, all of Denmark.
Mr Gürtler has an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark from 1976.
Mr Gürtler was first elected to the Board of Novo Nordisk A/S in 2005 and re-elected several times, most recently in 2009. His term as a board member expires in March 2010.
In January 2009, the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S assessed that Mr Gürtler is not regarded as an independent board member as defined in Section V.4 of Recommendations for corporate governance designated by the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen (2008) due to his former position as an executive in Novo Nordisk A/S and his position as president and CEO of Novo A/S. At the same time, the Board of Directors also assessed that the special competences possessed by Mr Gürtler that are important for the performance of his duties are his knowledge of the Novo Group’s business and its policies and his knowledge of the international biotech industry.
Mr Gürtler is a Danish national, born on 11 August 1953.
