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Ex-Procter & Gamble CEO Joins PSI Board

CINCINNATI, Ohio, September 23, 2005 — John E. Pepper, former chief executive officer and chairman of Procter & Gamble, has joined the PSI Board of Directors.

Mr. Pepper retired from Procter & Gamble and chairman of its board in 2002, after 38 years of service to the company. He retired as chairman of the executive committee of the board in 2003. Mr. Pepper now serves as Vice President for Finance and Administration at Yale University.

Mr. Pepper joined P&G in 1963, rising from staff assistant to president in 23 years. He became general manager of P&G Italia in 1974, returned to the U.S. in 1978, and was elected group vice president in 1980. In 1984, he was elected to the board of directors and named president in 1986.

A native of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Mr. Pepper graduated from Yale University in 1960 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1960-63. He holds honorary doctoral degrees from Xavier University, Mount St. Joseph College and St. Petersburg University (Russia).

Mr. Pepper currently serves as a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company and Boston Scientific Corporation, and has served as a member of the board of the Xerox Corporation and Motorola Inc. He is committed to community service, particularly education, and is Honorary Co-Chair of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Vice-Chairman of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative.

Mr. Pepper has served as a fellow of The Yale Corporation, chairman of the U.S. Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations and on the boards of Partnerships for Drug Free America and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. He has served as chairman of the Ohio Business Roundtable (1998-99), the Cincinnati United Way Campaign (1994) and on the board of the Trustees of Xavier University.

Mr. Pepper and his wife Francie have four children and reside in Wyoming, Ohio.

What follows is an interview between Procter & Gamble and Mr. Pepper.

Why have you decided to accept the appointment to the PSI Board of Directors?

JEP: PSI's mission of helping people lead healthier lives is right in line with our Statement of Purpose at Procter & Gamble. I have great admiration for their work. It is of enormous importance, and I hope to make a contribution to it.

PSI feels, and I also believe, that we can save lives through our collaborative efforts in safe drinking water. This heavily influenced my decision.

What are your impressions of PSI?

JEP: The people of PSI remind me in many ways of P&G'ers. They're passionate about their mission. They are committed to service and they are very good at what they do. I've met with the PSI leadership team and their commitment was palpable.

I have learned a good deal about the distinctive operating principles of this organization. PSI uses commercial marketing techniques, much like P&G, in order to make available products providing life-saving health benefits to those who most need them.

While PSI does not make a profit, they do sell products at low cost in the developing world. This approach is called "social marketing" because it uses commercial marketing techniques to provide products through a not-for-profit organization.

For consumers, providing product at low cost instead of being free means that the products have more value. Just like P&G, PSI believes in the power of brands to build consumer trust and loyalty. This ensures good product availability, builds the local economy, and encourages the development of a local commercial infrastructure that will benefit P&G products in the future.

Also, PSI has excellent organizations in many of the countries in which P&G is still building or has yet to build a commercial infrastructure such as Haiti, Malawi, and Uganda. This will enable PSI to provide our PUR Purifier of Water product at a low cost in places beyond P&G's current reach.

What would you like to tell P&G employees about our work with PSI?

JEP: PSI seems to me to be playing a unique role in the non-profit world. Their core values are bottom-line health impact, private sector speed and efficiency, innovation and entrepreneurship, and long-term commitment to the people they serve.

I've followed PSI's efforts in safe drinking water over the last several years. They are perhaps our most important partner for our Children's Safe Drinking Water program. I'm encouraged by PSI's initial efforts with the PUR sachets in Uganda and Haiti where they've now provided more than 2 million sachets of PUR using the social marketing approach.

PSI has also stepped up to take a leadership role in providing safe drinking water for both the tsunami and for the earthquake in Pakistan. Many P&G'ers provided funding to PSI for this effort and the Company matched their gifts. This is yet another sign that we're partnering with a capable organization.

PSI will be opening many more social markets with the PUR sachets during 2006 and we'll closely follow their progress.

In a way, we're combining the best social marketing company in PSI with the best consumer marketing company in the world in P&G. I'm pleased to be contributing to this effort.

For more information:
PSI Board of Directors




John E. Pepper, former chief executive officer and chairman of Procter & Gamble, has joined the PSI Board of Directors.

John E. Pepper, former chief executive officer and chairman of Procter & Gamble, has joined the PSI Board of Directors.

 

 

 

 

 
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