John Landgraf, Senior Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Supply, Abbott Laboratories, Lake Forest MBA Class of 1992
Doing is What Matters: Achieving Success at Abbott
By Barbara Wang
Over 13 years ago, John Landgraf was celebrating the end of another course with fellow LFGSM students. Just one quarter away from graduating, many of his classmates were eagerly anticipating the day they would receive their MBA degrees. "Let's quit now," John dared. "Unless that last class is one hell of a course, we know about as much now, having finished 15 courses, as we will on graduation day."
John had no real intention of quitting. By challenging his friends, Landgraf was sharing a philosophy that guides him still. "There's no 'magic day' to start showing what you bring to the table. The most important thing in business is what you do with your knowledge," he explains.
John went on to become Valedictorian for the Class of 1992 and a Hotchkiss Scholar. After graduating, he eventually went even further, becoming faculty at LFGSM, teaching Operations Management!
Landgraf's success illustrates the power of this long-held philosophy. Always on the lookout for new opportunities to learn and test new skills, he earned a steady progression of promotions since joining Abbott Laboratories in 1977. Most recently, Landgraf assumed his current role of Senior Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Supply in July 2004. John is responsible for global pharmaceutical operations involving over 10,000 employees, 26 plants and supporting Abbott's global pharmaceutical sales of over $13 billion in over 130 countries.
With a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Microbiology from Northern Illinois University, John has the requisite background to excel at Abbott in roles traditionally held by scientists and engineers. Indeed, he has had responsibility for quality assurance, manufacturing, engineering and R&D organizations across various Abbott divisions during his 27 year tenure with the company.
Yet, an important breakthrough came with John's decision to earn his MBA degree. Since then, he crossed over to hold broader general business roles at Abbott including Corporate Vice President Medical Products Quality, Corporate Vice President of Operations Abbott Diagnostic Division, Corporate Vice President Corporate Engineering, Vice President Abbott International Operations, and leading sales and marketing teams as Vice President of the Specialty Product Division and Vice President Chemical Business Unit of the Specialty Product Division.
As for the future, all John will predict is that it's likely to involve change; learning new skills, taking on even greater challenges. "At first, change is hard. After a while, you come to look for it. Now I get excited about trying something new." Good thing Abbott offers endless opportunities for individuals with John Landgraf's talents, vision and enthusiasm.
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