Indra K. Nooyi, CEO and chairman of PepsiCo and a 1980 graduate of Yale University, made a landmark gift to endow the deanship of the School of Management
With the gift, the amount of which was not divulged by the university, Nooyi becomes the most generous graduate of Yale School of Management in terms of lifetime giving to the school. She is also the first woman to endow the deanship at a top business school, Yale said in a press release.
Nooyi has previously made substantial contributions to the construction of Edward P. Evans Hall at the Yale School of Management, including gifts to name the Nooyi Classroom and the Isaacson Classroom in memory of Professor Larry Isaacson. With her latest gift of the deanship, she also inaugurated the Fifth Decade Innovation Fund, named in recognition of the school entering its fifth decade.
“My experience at the Yale School of Management forever altered the course of my life,” Nooyi is quoted saying. “My gift to this wonderful institution pales in comparison with the gift that Yale gave me—the fundamental understanding that leadership requires an expansive worldview and a deep appreciation of the many points of intersection between business and society.”
She said she hoped the endowment will teach future generations of leaders that the most successful companies of tomorrow will do more than make money. “They will make a difference and create shareholder value by improving the quality of life in every market in which they operate,” she said.
PepsiCo is the second largest food and beverage company in the world. Nooyi, 60, has been the CEO of PepsiCo since 2006, and chairman since 2007. She is the chief architect of “Performance with Purpose,” the company’s promise to deliver top-tier financial performance integrating sustainability into its business strategy, the company bio says. Under her watch the company diversified its product line so that today, less than 25 percent of its global revenue is derived from carbonated soft drinks and approximately 20 percent comes from the company’s nutrition businesses. She has also promoted environmental sustainability in business practices, leading to reducing the company’s use of water by 23 percent and improving energy efficiency by 16 percent, according to the release.
Born in Chennai, then Madras, Nooyi studied at Madras Christian College, graduating with a degree in chemistry, physics and math. She studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, before attending Yale. Considered among America’s top corporate visionaries, Nooyi was appointed to the U.S.-India CEO Forum by President Obama. She is also a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She is married to Raj Nooyi, a management consultant, and the couple has two daughters, Tara and Preetha. Nooyi lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Prior to joining PepsiCo in 1994, Nooyi worked in senior roles at Asea Brown Boveri, Motorola, and the Boston Consulting Group. She serves as a member of the boards of U.S.-China Business Council, U.S.-India Business Council, the Consumer Goods Forum, Catalyst, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Tsinghua University. She is a past member of the Yale Corporation, the top governing board and policy-making body for the university. She is also a member of the, and was
