Sara Lee Corporation announced yesterday that its Board of Directors has promoted William A. Geoppinger to executive vice president of the corporation, and L.M. (Theo) de Kool and Wayne R. Szypulski each to senior vice president of the corporation, effective immediately.
As Executive Vice President – Chief Executive Officer of Sara Lee Foods, Geoppinger, 62, oversees the operations for Sara Lee’s global foods business. Based at Sara Lee Foods headquarters office in Cincinnati, Geoppinger will continue to report to C. Steven McMillan, president and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corporation.
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Geoppinger began his career with Sara Lee in 1966 after the company acquired Kahn’s and Company. He held several sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility throughout the years, and became executive vice president of Kahn’s in 1983.
In 1987, Kahn’s merged with another Sara Lee division, Hillshire Farm, and Geoppinger was named president and chief executive officer of Hillshire Farm & Kahn’s in 1989. He was elected a vice president of Sara Lee Corporation in 1992, and he was named a senior vice president of the corporation, and president and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Foods, in 1999.
Geoppinger earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.
As a newly elected senior vice president of Sara Lee Corporation, de Kool, 48, will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer of Sara Lee/DE. He is also a Member of the Board of Management of Sara Lee/DE, based in The Netherlands.
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By GlobalDatade Kool began his Sara Lee career in 1990 as vice president of finance for the Household and Personal Care division of Sara Lee/DE. In 1993, de Kool left Sara Lee/DE to serve as chief financial officer of the Blokker retail chain. He rejoined Sara Lee/DE in 1995 as chief financial officer and a member of Sara Lee/DE’s board of management. In 1996, de Kool was named a vice president of the corporation.
Prior to joining Sara Lee, de Kool held positions with Buhrmann Tetterode and CPC Benelux, B.V. He earned a master’s degree in economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He will continue to report to Frank L. Meysman, executive vice president of Sara Lee Corporation and chairman of the board of management of Sara Lee/DE.
Szypulski, 50, is the controller of Sara Lee Corporation. He joined the company in 1983 as manager – accounting, and was later named director – accounting projects. In 1991, he was appointed assistant corporate controller and in 1993 was named controller. He was elected a vice president of the corporation in 1994.
He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Szypulski will continue to report to Cary D. McMillan, executive vice president, and chief financial and administrative officer of Sara Lee Corporation.
Sara Lee Corporation (www.saralee.com) is a global branded consumer packaged goods company with approximately $17.5 billion in annual revenues. Its leading brands include Sara Lee, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Kiwi, Hanes and Playtex.
