Dr. Heiri Gugger named Managing Director of new North Carolina office

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kincannon & Reed, the leading global retained executive search firm serving the agribusiness, food, and life sciences sectors, has named Dr. Heiri Gugger as Managing Director of the firm's new office in Research Triangle Park, NC. The firm will support North Carolina's fast-growing agribusiness and biotechnology sectors by recruiting the top talent needed to lead these businesses forward both locally and globally.

Dr. Gugger brings to the firm's clients a broad spectrum of executive experience across global life science and industrial sectors.  His career spans industrial chemicals to the crop protection industry. Inspired by board memberships in Syngenta's biotech subsidiaries, Heiri made biotechnology his central theme. As CEO, he led the turn-around of NASDAQ-listed Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (later Icoria, Inc.), transforming it from an agricultural functional genomics company into a systems biology platform with healthcare and agricultural content. Previously, he held increasingly senior positions in the merger string of Ciba-Geigy, Novartis, and Syngenta, ultimately serving as President for Syngenta Crop Protection. Earlier, Heiri gained valuable global and functional business experience leading global business units for Ciba/Novartis with regional oversight for Asia Pacific and Europe.  Recently, he immersed himself in the startup world as a C-level executive in the biotech and renewables sectors.  Gugger served 11 years on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and was Board Vice Chair of ACPA (now CropLife America) and a member of the Food and Agriculture Governing Body for BIO.  Fluent in German, English, and French, Gugger holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and was a postdoctoral fellow with IBM's Research Division in San Jose, CA.

"Heiri's track record of leadership and insight, in addition to his broad network in the biotechnology arena, make him an outstanding addition to our team," commented Greg Duerksen, president of Kincannon & Reed. "The unique entrepreneurial drive and economic development structure in North Carolina creates an attractive location for a new office in our global network."

Gugger states, "I am thrilled to join the Kincannon & Reed team and look forward to engaging the leadership of North Carolina's companies to source the talent necessary to sustain their successful growth. I know firsthand how rewarding it is to work in the state of North Carolina; that experience will help me promote the area to others."

Kincannon & Reed (www.krsearch.com) is the only retained executive search firm focused exclusively on the food, agribusiness, and life sciences sectors. Founded in 1981, the company serves clients throughout the world from its offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific. The firm's motto is: "We recruit leaders for organizations that feed the world and keep it healthy."

SOURCE Kincannon & Reed