Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> September 14, 2001

John Wareham – Beckman Coulter Inc (bec)

JOHN P. WAREHAM is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beckman Coulter, Inc. Mr. Wareham became CEO in September 1998 and was named Chairman in February 1999. Prior to these changes, he had served as President and Chief Operating Officer since 1993. During his tenure as President and COO, he successfully managed a corporate restructuring plan that resulted in significantly improved margins for the corporation. He also led an aggressive acquisition strategy that ultimately resulted in the union of Beckman and Coulter as a new industry leader in diagnostics. Mr. Wareham joined Beckman Instruments, Inc. in 1984 as Vice President ' Diagnostics Systems Group, a position he held through October 1993. In this capacity, he propelled the company's diagnostic business to a leadership position in the clinical laboratory market, making it one of the most profitable entities in the industry. The move to Beckman was preceded by a 15-year career with SmithKline. He entered that company as an operations research analyst and held positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as Director of Business Planning at SmithKline & French Laboratories- Worldwide, and finally, President of Norden Laboratories. Mr. Wareham began his career as a Pharmacist, working in his family's business. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to being Chairman of the Board of Directors at Beckman Coulter, Wareham also serves on the Boards of STERIS Corporation in Mentor, Ohio; the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) in Washington, DC; the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI in Arlington, Virginia; the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in Washington, DC, and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) in San Diego, California. Additionally, he is on the Advisory Board for The John Henry Foundation in Garden Grove, California and is a member of the Center for Corporate Innovation in Los Angeles, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Executive Roundtable, and the Advisory Council of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences in Claremont, California. Profile
TWST: Would you give us a brief overview and history of your company?

Mr. Wareham: Beckman Coulter's roots date back to 1934 when

Dr. Arnold O. Beckman invented the acidimeter (pH meter). It