Gordon Brunner, P&G’s Former Chief Technology Officer

Learnings from Leaders: the P&G Alumni Podcast

“Honestly, if you could describe what you needed to a P&G technologist - it could be done.”

Gordon Brunner, was P&G’s Chief Technology Officer leading the company’s technical community, and even serving on P&G’s Board of Directors. Gordon initially joined the Company's Food Division in 1961 as a Process Engineer, progressing through R&D assignments with increasing responsibility and experience across food, laundry and cleaning. His work directly impacted many of P&G’s Billion Dollar brands. In 1976 Gordon became head of all European R&D operations, and returned to the US soon becoming Senior Vice President of global R&D. Gordon led internal venture programs responsible for new products like Swiffer, Dryel, and Febreze, and growing P&G's life science and healthcare business. Gordon was elected to the company Board in 1991, and in 1995, he accepted the U.S. Medal of Technology on behalf of P&G from President Bill Clinton. In 1999 Gordon became P&G’s Chief Technology Officer.

A native of Des Plaines, Illinois, Gordon studied Biochemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, and got his MBA from Xavier University. Since retiring - Gordon has remained quite busy leading ventures across academic, philanthropic and professional organizations - and ever the scientist/tinkerer - remaining very technically active in some of this passionate pursuits of golf, cooking, and fermentation.

You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about the importance of products, people, and thinking big - but also how this cutting edge work doesn’t matter if it’s divorced from business realities and consumer context. For Gordon, the power of people is paramount - you’ll appreciate his candor and perspective on the rich history of the company where he was such a big part.