Donna Banks - Kellogg Company

Donna J. Banks, Ph.D., has been Kellogg Company's senior vice president, global supply chain since June 2004. She is also a member of the company's global leadership team. Dr. Banks joined the company in 1983 as an associate statistician in the chemistry and basic sciences department. She was promoted to manager, product evaluation in 1984; to director, product development in 1987; to vice president, research and development in 1991; to senior vice president, research and development in 1997; to senior vice president, global innovation in July 1999; and to senior vice president, research, quality and technology in February 2000. Dr. Banks received a bachelor's degree in animal science and a master's degree in animal breeding and genetics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received a doctorate in animal science from Michigan State University. She is a board member of the Independent Bank Corporation and the Independent Bank of South Michigan.

From Business Week's "IN 25" for 2006 Despite her logistics-sounding title, Banks drives innovation at Kellogg and was an early believer in the movement. Her efforts have helped the company nearly double its percentage of net sales from innovation during the past five years. Banks' smart moves include recognizing that consumers would cool on protein-heavy Atkins fare and rediscover their love of low-calorie foods. Thus Kellogg's Right Bites, 100-Calorie snack packs like Keebler Fudge Shoppe Mini Fudge Stripe and Keebler Chips Deluxe, sans guilt.