CHICAGO: Monsanto has tapped Joan Walker, a refugee from Ameritech’s recent PR purge (see story, page 1), to head its communications charge.
CHICAGO: Monsanto has tapped Joan Walker, a refugee from
Ameritech’s recent PR purge (see story, page 1), to head its
communications charge.
Walker, formerly Ameritech’s SVP of communications, joins the
agricultural and pharmaceutical giant as SVP of corporate affairs, a new
position.
The appointment is a major one, as Walker will be responsible for
guiding company PR policy on such potentially explosive issues as
genetically modified foods.
Monsanto had been searching for someone to direct its communications
efforts since earlier in the year, when its former head of PR left the
company. Walker, whose Monsanto tenure began last Monday, will divide
her time between the company’s offices in Chicago and St. Louis.
While vice chairman and chief administrative officer Richard De Schutter
wouldn’t say whether the company courted Walker during her Ameritech
tenure, another source said she had been actively recruited. Her hiring,
the source believes, could demonstrate a commitment to improving the
less-than-stellar media relations reputation with which the company is
saddled.
Walker will oversee all public affairs for Monsanto, including its
agricultural and GD Searle pharmaceutical businesses, as well as
internal communications.
