William L. Meaney ’82

Chief Executive Officer
The Zuellig Group

William L. Meaney is the chief executive officer of The Zuellig Group. Zuellig is a US $12 billion diversified pan-Asian group based in Hong Kong, whose primary activities include: pharmaceutical distribution; pharmaceutical manufacturing under license; animal feed manufacturing; and agricultural and materials handling equipment.

Prior to his appointment at Zuellig, Meaney worked in a number of turnaround situations, including: the chief commercial officer at Swiss International Airlines in Zurich; executive vice president at South African Airways in Johannesburg; and the chief executive officer of South African Vaccine Producers, a parastatal pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Johannesburg. Prior to his taking on leadership roles in international groups, he was a strategic consultant with Strategic Planning Associates (now part of Oliver Wyman) based in London and in Geneva where he worked in a variety of industries.

Before beginning his career in business, Meaney served as a CIA operations officer. He also serves on the board of Moksha8, a private pharmaceutical company controlled by TPG. In addition to being a trustee of Rensselaer, he serves as a trustee at Carnegie Mellon University.

He has a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Meaney holds U.S., Swiss, and Irish citizneships.