Business News
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Names Dushan Petrovich President
Tuesday 21. October 2008 - The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company today named Dushan (Duke) Petrovich as President, effective immediately. Petrovich has been with Wrigley for more than 30 years and will be responsible for the company's worldwide strategy, operations and business performance.
In his new role, Petrovich will continue to work closely with company Chairman Bill Wrigley, Jr., and both will report to Paul S. Michaels, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mars, Incorporated. The Wrigley Company was acquired and became a subsidiary of privately held Mars on October 6.
A native of the Wrigley Company’s hometown of Chicago, Mr. Petrovich began his career in the Wrigley finance department and later served as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Vice President, Corporate Treasurer. In his most recent role as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Petrovich has been responsible for many of the company’s vital functions, including People, Learning and Development (the company’s human resources organization), global procurement, global supply chain, global real estate, information technology and corporate communications.
“Duke has played an important role in the transformation and ongoing growth of Wrigley throughout the years,” said Bill Wrigley, Jr. “He has tremendous experience and respects the company’s heritage, but always keeps his focus on the future. “Duke will be an outstanding leader for Wrigley’s business and our people.”
Commenting on the appointment, Paul S. Michaels said: “The combination of Duke’s deep-seated understanding of Wrigley’s operations, respect among the company’s associates, and financial expertise makes him the ideal person to connect Wrigley into the Mars organization and build future growth for the business.”
William D. Perez, who previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Wrigley, will support the company in an advisory capacity through the end of 2008. “It has been a pleasure to work with Bill Wrigley, Jr. and the great team of people here at Wrigley over the past two years to help drive growth and success for our brands, and I wish the combined organization nothing but success in the future.”
Petrovich holds a B.A. in Economics from Knox College and a M.S. in Accounting Science from Roosevelt University. He also is a graduate of the Executive Program at the University of Michigan, and has served as an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Dominican University.
Petrovich has served on the Knox College Board of Trustees since 2005 and is a member of the City of Chicago’s Sister Cities Belgrade Committee.