Jennifer A. Johnson is a seasoned Fortune 500 C-suite executive with a biotechnology Ph.D. and over 20 years of global experience in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and agriculture industries. She brings a unique blend of scientific and business expertise to drive business-enabling solutions in complex, regulated industries.
As the former General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. (NYSE:IFF; $11.5B 2024 revenue), a global leader in creating flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health, and biosciences products, Jennifer advised the board on many business-critical issues. She counseled the IFF board during negotiations with activists Sachem Head and Icahn Associates, through two CEO transitions, and during three board refreshes. She regularly counseled the board on succession planning, executive compensation, corporate governance, compliance, and risk management.
Jennifer’s experience also includes executing on many business-critical projects, including delevering IFF’s balance sheet through five divestitures totaling over $6B, integrating two public companies (each with over $5B revenue), delivering synergies after a transformational merger, and leading the response to a global antitrust investigation and resulting class action litigations. Previously, she held key positions in the legal team at DuPont (NYSE:DD; $16.7B 2021 revenue), focusing on commercial and intellectual property strategies for its biotechnology businesses. She began her career at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, where she represented pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Eli Lilly, AbbVie, and Syngenta, in patent litigation.
Jennifer serves on the Advisory Board of the New York Botanical Garden and previously served on the Board of Directors of the California Life Sciences Association. Jennifer has also served as a mentor to a biotech startup through the FAST California program and has taught Biotechnology Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, as well as Patent Law and Patent Policy at Howard University School of Law. Jennifer received a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and a B.S. in Genetics and Plant Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of Washington. She is based in New York City.