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Biographies of the Executive Leadership Team

    Executive Leadership Team

  • + Brent Saunders
    Chief Executive Officer

    • Brent SaundersBrent Saunders is chief executive officer of Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company. He was appointed to this position in March 2010.

      Mr. Saunders has significant healthcare industry expertise and a proven track-record leading business transformations and integrations. Most recently he held the position of president of Global Consumer Health Care at Schering-Plough and was named head of integration for the company’s merger with Merck & Co. and for Schering Plough’s acquisition of Organon BioSciences.

      Before joining Schering-Plough, Mr. Saunders was a partner and head of Compliance Business Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Prior to that, he was chief risk officer at Coventry Health Care and senior vice president, Compliance, Legal and Regulatory at Home Care Corporation of America. Mr. Saunders began his career as chief compliance officer for the Thomas Jefferson University Health System.

      Mr. Saunders serves on the Board of Directors of Forest Laboratories and the Overlook Foundation. He is a member of AdvaMed, PhRMA, The Business Council and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Upstate Regional Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh.

      Mr. Saunders, 43, earned his MBA from Temple University School of Business, his J.D. from Temple University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

  • + Robert Bertolini
    President and Chief Financial Officer
    • BertoliniRobert Bertolini is president and chief financial officer of Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company.  He was appointed to this position in February 2013.  In this capacity, Bertolini oversees the company’s Finance, Information Technology and Global Quality and Operations (GQO) functions. 

       

      Mr. Bertolini’s strategic, operational and transformative leadership within the pharmaceutical industry and accounting/consulting sectors have consistently enabled the companies he has been involved with to improve overall performance and accelerate business results. 

      Mr. Bertolini served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Schering-Plough Corporation until its merger with Merck & Co. in 2009.  Mr. Bertolini had been with Schering-Plough since 2003, where he worked hand-in-hand with the chief executive officer in all aspects of transforming the company's operations.  Mr. Bertolini built world-class finance and information technology functions and led business development and strategy. He had responsibility for key financial areas including tax, accounting and financial asset management, among other areas. 

      Prior to joining Schering-Plough, Mr. Bertolini spent 20 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming partner and leading the Global Pharmaceutical Industry practice. At PWC, he played a senior adviser role to top management at some of the most well-known healthcare companies on financial and general business issues including licensing agreements, merger & acquisition transactions, IPOs, strategic partnering, audit, financial controls and corporate governance.

      Mr. Bertolini earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and is a Certified Public Accountant.  He is a current board member of Actelion Pharmaceuticals and Charles River Labs, and a former Board Member of Genzyme Corporation.

  • + A. Robert D. Bailey
    Executive VP, General Counsel, and Secretary

    • A Robert D Bailey

      A. Robert D. Bailey is executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Bausch + Lomb, responsible for the legal affairs of the company on a worldwide basis. He was named to this post in 2007.

      Mr. Bailey began his legal career as an associate with what is now the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP in Rochester, N.Y. He was first employed at Bausch + Lomb as counsel from 1994 to 1995, then re-joined the company in 1997 after serving as associate general counsel and assistant secretary at Goulds Pumps, Inc. Prior to being named general counsel, he was vice president, assistant general counsel and assistant secretary for the company.

      Mr. Bailey was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1963.  He holds a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor of arts degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

      Mr. Bailey serves on the board of directors of the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc.

  • + John Barr
    Corporate Vice President and President, Global Surgical

    • barr-bioJohn Barr is Executive Vice President and Global President of Bausch + Lomb’s Surgical business.  He was named to this post in May 2012, and reports to Bausch + Lomb’s President and CEO, Brent Saunders. 

      Mr. Barr has extensive medical device and biotechnology industry experience spanning a wide variety of operational, strategy and customer-facing roles in which he consistently increased company value and delivered business results.

      At Bausch + Lomb, Mr. Barr has global responsibility for the company’s full suite of ophthalmic surgical products, intraocular lenses (IOLs) and delivery systems, which include such brand names as enVista™ Crystalens®, Stellaris® PC, Storz™and VICTUS™.

      Immediately prior to joining Bausch + Lomb, Barr was President and CEO of AGA Medical, a pioneer of minimally invasive devices to treat structural heart defects and vascular abnormalities.  Under his leadership, AGA Medical, which had been a Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe-owned portfolio company, completed a successful IPO before ultimately being acquired by St. Jude Medical.

      Barr also spent more than eight years at V.I. Technologies, an anti-infective therapeutics company as its President and COO.  Prior to joining V. I. Technologies, Barr spent seven years with Haemonetics, a manufacturer of blood processing technology, in a variety of customer service and operations roles before ultimately being named President of North American Operations. 
       
      Earlier in his career, Barr spent nearly 10 years at Baxter Healthcare in a number of financial and operational assignments culminating with his being promoted to Vice President of the company’s healthcare IT solutions division, which ultimately merged with IBM Hospital Systems.

      Barr is a graduate of the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management-Northwestern University in Evanston, IL where he earned his master’s degree in Accounting and Economics.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.  Barr is also a former member of the Board of Directors for AdvaMed.

  • + Alan H. Farnsworth
    Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Global Customer Service and Information Technology

    • Alan Farnsworth

      Alan H. Farnsworth is executive vice president and chief information officer, global customer service and information technology for Bausch + Lomb. He was named to this post in 2008.

      Mr. Farnsworth joined Bausch + Lomb in 1988 as vice president, business development for the former international division. He has held positions including vice president, marketing, and president, lens care, in the former personal products division. He was named staff vice president, corporate development, in 1996 and corporate vice president, business development, in 1997. He became corporate vice president and president, Pharmaceuticals/Europe, in 2000 and in 2001 he was named corporate vice president and president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, responsible for the commercial operations of all Bausch + Lomb businesses in the region.

      Prior to joining Bausch + Lomb, Mr. Farnsworth held a variety of senior operating and general management positions with Schlegel Corporation, a privately held manufacturer of industrial goods.

      Mr. Farnsworth was born in Albion, N.Y., in September 1952. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Rochester and a Juris Doctor degree from Cornell University School of Law in Ithaca, N.Y.

      Mr. Farnsworth was a member of the board of trustees of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness/Vision 2020 until 2009 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Rochester United Way.

  • + Mariano García-Valiño
    Executive VP, President Latin America

    • Mariano Garcca Valino

      Mariano García-Valiño is executive vice president, president Latin America for Bausch + Lomb.  He was named to this position in October 2010.

      Mr. García-Valiño has extensive experience in the Latin American business and health care industry. Prior to Bausch + Lomb, he was an operating partner with Advent International, a global private equity firm, focusing specifically on investment opportunities within the Latin American health care industry.

      From 2001 to 2009, Mr. García-Valiño served in multiple roles with Pfizer Inc., among them as head of Pfizer’s largest operating group in Brazil, overseeing a pharmaceuticals business. During his tenure at Pfizer, Mr. García-Valiño also served as chief marketing officer of the Brazilian operation, head of business development for Brazil and head of planning and business development for Latin America.

      During the merger between Pfizer and Pharmacia, Mr. García-Valiño led the integration of the $1 billion, 10-country, 4,000-person Latin American operations, resulting in the creation of the largest pharmaceuticals company in the region.

      Mr. García-Valiño held positions with McKinsey & Company, Eli Lilly and Disprofarma earlier in his career.

      Mr. García-Valiño holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Buenos Aires and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

  • + Michael D. Gowen
    Executive VP, Global Business Operations and Process Excellence

    • Michael Gowen

      Michael D. Gowen is executive vice president, global business operations and process excellence for Bausch + Lomb. He was named to these posts in 2008.

      Prior to joining Bausch + Lomb, Mr. Gowen was vice president of Global Operations and Supply Chain for the Johnson & Johnson Group of Consumer Companies. From 2002 to 2004, he was vice president of Global Operations and Supply Chain for Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.

      He also has served in multiple management roles with McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals Company, including six years as vice president of operations, and as plant manager of its Round Rock, Texas, facility.

      Mr. Gowen holds a bachelor of science degree in Industrial Management from Villanova University, an MBA from Temple University, a master of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University, and a master of science degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.

  • + Brian J. Harris
    Executive VP

    • Brian Harris

      Brian J. Harris is executive vice president for Bausch + Lomb. A global business and finance executive with more than three decades of experience with multinational organizations, he was appointed to these positions in March 2009.

      Beginning in 1989, Mr. Harris held positions of increasing responsibility with Tomkins plc, the industrial, automotive, building products and engineering manufacturing conglomerate. These included roles as president of the $2 billion Worldwide Power Transmission business for Denver, Colo.-based Gates Corporation, as well as senior vice president for Strategic Business Development and Business Administration, and chief financial officer and company secretary. He also served as president of Gates Unitta Asia, the company’s Japanese joint venture, during which time he was based in Osaka.

      Prior, Mr. Harris held financial director and controller roles with Tomkins operating companies in the U.K. and U.S., as well as U.K.-based operating companies for Hanson Plc. He began his career as a staff accountant in the Glasgow office of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

      Mr. Harris earned his Bachelor of Accountancy from Glasgow University, and qualified as a Scottish Chartered Accountant. A native of Western Scotland, he was born in August 1956.

  • + Rick A. Heinick
    Executive VP, Chief Human Resources Officer

    • Rick Heinick

      Rick Heinick is executive vice president and chief human resources officer, for Bausch + Lomb. He joined the company in January 2011.

      Mr. Heinick has responsibility for Bausch + Lomb’s strategy for selecting, developing, energizing, and valuing the company’s global workforce. He also oversees the company’s communications and transformational initiatives.

      Mr. Heinick previously served as a senior partner with Schaffer Consulting, where he advised executives on organizational transformation and increasing performance. Mr. Heinick was an advisor to a number of multinational companies in the health care sector, including Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard, and was lead advisor for Merck & Co. on its merger with Schering-Plough.

      Mr. Heinick was the founder and president of PPS, Inc., a software company focusing on increasing people’s performance. He began his career with Mercer Management Consulting. His work has been published in leading publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Chief Executive Magazine and Pharmaceutical Executive, and he is a frequent speaker regarding organizational transformation and M&A. His article, The Merger Dividend, was published in the July/August 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review.

      Mr. Heinick holds a bachelor's degree in Communications (Organizational) from Boston University, and a masters of Management (International) from McGill University. He is based at the company’s world headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

      Mr. Heinick serves on the board of directors of the Rochester Business Alliance and on the board of directors of ABVI-Goodwill.

  • + Sheila A. Hopkins
    Executive VP, President, Global Vision Care

    • Sheila A. HopkinsSheila A. Hopkins is executive vice president, president, global Vision Care for Bausch + Lomb. She joined the company in September 2011.

      Ms. Hopkins was most recently with the Colgate-Palmolive Company where she was Vice President, General Manager, Professional Oral Care. Ms. Hopkins spent the last 14 years of her career with Colgate-Palmolive where she served in a variety of roles including Vice President and General Manager, Personal Care and Vice President of Global Business Development.  During her tenure, Ms. Hopkins grew revenues and profits for consumer and professional brands and helped reinvigorate the company’s new product innovation stream.   

      Ms. Hopkins also spent more than seven years at Procter & Gamble where she led marketing for the company’s skin care brands including Oil of Olay, Clearasil and Noxzema.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Hopkins worked for American Cyanamid in a variety of product, marketing and sales roles including Director of National Accounts where she was responsible for customers such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target and Walgreen’s.

      Ms. Hopkins has also held roles at Tambrands and Revlon, and she has served on the Board of Directors for Warnaco since July 2003. 

      Ms. Hopkins is a graduate of Wellesley College.   

  • + Calvin W. Roberts, M.D.
    Executive VP, Chief Medical Officer

    • Calvin W. Roberts, M.DCalvin W. Roberts, M.D., is executive vice president, chief medical officer of Bausch + Lomb. He was named to this post in March 2011.

      Dr. Roberts  coordinates our global D&R efforts across our Vision Care, Pharmaceuticals and Surgical business units for optimal leverage and outcomes.

      An expert and innovator in ophthalmic medical products and cataract surgery, Dr. Roberts has a unique blend of academic, clinical, business and hands-on product development experience. He has led the development and commercialization of numerous OTC and prescription pharmaceuticals, and is a frequent industry lecturer and author.

      In 2003, Dr. Roberts co-founded Alimera Sciences, Inc., the specialty pharmaceuticals company.

      Dr. Roberts holds patents on the wide-field specular microscope, used for corneal endothelial studies, and is the developer of instruments for cataract surgery. As a consultant to ophthalmic pharmaceutical companies, including Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, Roberts has helped lead the development and marketing efforts for several new therapeutics.

      He is a clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. As a practicing ophthalmologist from 1998 to 2008, he performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries plus 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries.

      A graduate of Princeton University and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, Dr. Roberts completed his internship and ophthalmology residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He also completed cornea fellowships at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston.

  • + Susan A. Roberts
    Executive VP, Chief Compliance Officer

    • Susan Roberts

      Susan A. Roberts is executive vice president, chief compliance officer, responsible for leading the company’s compliance and ethics programs.  She was named to this post in 2006, and also heads the global pharmacovigilance and safety surveillance groups.

      Ms. Roberts joined the company in 1995 after several years in private practice as a trial lawyer at Harter, Secrest & Emery. She then held positions of increasing responsibility in the Bausch &+Lomb Law department, including serving as vice president and assistant general counsel.

      Ms. Roberts holds a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the Albany Law School of Union University and a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University.

  • + Rodney W. Unsworth
    Executive VP, President Asia Pacific

    • Robert Unsworth

      Rodney (Rod) W. Unsworth is executive vice president, president Asia Pacific. He joined the company in July 2010.

      Prior to Bausch + Lomb, Mr. Unsworth served as president, Asia-Pacific, for Schering-Plough Corporation from 2004 until its merger with Merck in 2009. In that role, he led a performance turnaround in key markets such as China.

      From 1995 to 2002, Mr. Unsworth was with Pharmacia where he served numerous roles including president, Asia-Pacific; global vice president, Ophthalmology and Metabolic Diseases; and managing director, Pharmacia & Upjohn Australia.

      In 1972, Mr. Unsworth founded Delta West, the Australian pharmaceuticals company, and served as its chairman and managing director for two decades. The company was acquired by Upjohn in 1992.

      Mr. Unsworth holds a degree in pharmacy from the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Australia.

  • + Charl van Zyl
    Executive VP, Commercial Leader EMEA

    • Charl Van Zyl

      Charl van Zyl is executive vice president, commercial leader EMEA.  He was named to this position in November 2010.

      He leads Bausch + Lomb’s cross-functional, multi-market EMEA operations team with direct commercial responsibility for B+L’s emerging markets in the region.

      Mr. van Zyl joined Bausch + Lomb in 2009, serving as vice president, EMEA, for the company’s Pharmaceuticals business.

      Before arriving at Bausch + Lomb, Mr. van Zyl was chief executive officer for the German biotechnology firm, Jado Technologies. From 2004 to 2007 he held positions at Novartis Pharma AG as head of Marketing and Sales, Pharma Europe, and head of Global Marketing, Ophthalmics.

      Early in his career Mr. van Zyl held multiple positions with Eli Lilly & Co, with responsibilities spanning across Japan, the United States, Europe and Latin America.

      Mr. van Zyl graduated from the University of Cape Town with Bachelors of Science (Medicine) Honours and MBA degrees.

  • + Daniel M. Wechsler
    Executive VP, President, Global Pharmaceuticals

    • Daniel Wechsler

      Daniel M. Wechsler is executive vice president, president, global Pharmaceuticals. He joined the company in September 2010.

      He was most recently head of U.S. Strategy, Commercial Model Innovation and Business Development for Merck & Co., a role to which he was appointed following the company’s acquisition of Schering-Plough Corporation in 2009. From 2005 to 2009, he was group vice president, Global Business Operations and Selling Excellence, for Schering-Plough, and a member of the global management team.

      In 2003, Mr. Wechsler joined Pfizer Inc. as vice president for its multibillion-dollar U.S. Specialty Sales organization, with responsibility for the oncology, ophthalmics, medical/surgical, Agouron, cardiovascular, urology and gynecology, endocrine care and women’s health franchises.

      He began his career in 1991 with The Upjohn Company (later Pharmacia Corporation), holding a variety of positions with increasing responsibilities for sales and sales training.

      Mr. Wechsler holds a master’s degree from the University of Rochester and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Brockport.