38 Facts About Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and former chief executive officer and chairperson of PepsiCo.

Indra Nooyi has consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women.

Indra Nooyi serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.

Indra Nooyi received bachelor's degrees in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Madras Christian College of the University of Madras in 1975, and a Post Graduate Programme Diploma from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976.

In 1978, Indra Nooyi was admitted to Yale School of Management and moved to the United States, where she earned a master's degree in public and private management in 1980.

In 1980, Indra Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant, and then worked at Motorola as vice president and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, followed by a stint at Asea Brown Boveri.

Indra Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994, and was named CEO in 2006, replacing Steven Reinemund, becoming the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 44-year history.

Between February 2000 and April 2001, Indra Nooyi was senior vice president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo.

Indra Nooyi served as PepsiCo's senior vice president for corporate strategy and development from 1996 until 2000, and as PepsiCo's senior vice president for strategic planning from 1994 until 1996.

Indra Nooyi took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and the merger with Quaker Oats Company, which brought Gatorade in 2001.

Indra Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journals list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among Times 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008.

Indra Nooyi moved corporate spending away from junk foods and into the healthier alternatives, with the aim of improving the healthiness of even the "fun" offerings.

Indra Nooyi has stated an intent to develop a line of snacks marketed specifically for women, feeling that it is a hitherto unexplored category.

However, Indra Nooyi continued to serve as the chairman of the company until early 2019.

Indra Nooyi served as CEO for 12 years, 7 years longer than the average CEO tenure at large companies according to an Equilar study.

In 2019, Indra Nooyi became the co-director of the newly created Connecticut Economic Resource Center, a public-private partnership with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

Indra Nooyi will help draft the state's new economic development strategy.

Indra Nooyi is a resident of Connecticut and a Yale SOM classmate of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.

In January 2008, Indra Nooyi was elected chairwoman of the US-India Business Council.

Indra Nooyi leads USIBC's Board of Directors, an assembly of more than 60 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry.

Indra Nooyi was named CEO of the Year by the Global Supply Chain Leaders Group in July 2009.

In 2009, Indra Nooyi was considered one of "The TopGun CEOs" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency.

Indra Nooyi was named to Institutional Investor's Best CEOs list in the All-America Executive Team Survey in 2008 to 2011.

Indra Nooyi was named one of the "Best CEOs In The World" by the CEOWORLD magazine in 2018.

Indra Nooyi was selected as one of the 2019 American Portrait Gala honorees by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

In 2019 Indra Nooyi received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute Awards Program.

In February 2020, Indra Nooyi was honored with the Outstanding Woman in Business award by the League of Women Voters of Connecticut.

In 2021, Indra Nooyi was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Indra Nooyi serves as a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, International Rescue Committee, Catalyst and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Indra Nooyi is a member of the Board of Trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships, and has served as Chairperson of the US-India Business Council.

Indra Nooyi serves as an Honorary Co-chair for the World Justice Project.

In December 2016, Indra Nooyi joined a business forum assembled by Donald Trump to provide strategic and policy advice on economic issues.

In June 2018, Indra Nooyi joined the International Cricket Council Board as the organization's first independent female director.

Since February 2019, Indra Nooyi has been a member of the board of directors at Amazon.

Indra Nooyi serves as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point, a Dean's Advisory Council member at MIT's School of Engineering, and a member of the MIT Corporation.

Indra Nooyi is a Hindu by faith and abstains from alcohol.

Indra Nooyi's older sister Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon is a businesswoman and a Grammy-nominated artist.

Indra Nooyi became the school's biggest alumni donor in history and the first woman to endow a deanship at a top business school with her gift.