James E. Burke
James E. Burke | |
|---|---|
Burke in 2000 | |
| Born | February 28, 1925 Rutland, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | September 28, 2012 (aged 87) |
| Education | College of the Holy Cross (BS) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Title | CEO of Johnson & Johnson |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Daniel Burke (brother) Steve Burke (nephew) Felix Wormser (father-in-law) |
| Awards | American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1993) Jefferson Award (1993) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2000) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 |
| Battles / wars | |
James Edward Burke (February 28, 1925 – September 28, 2012) was an American businessman who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) from 1976 to 1989, where he worked for forty years. The company's revenue tripled to more than $9 billion under his tenure.
Burke was best known as head of Johnson & Johnson during the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders, after which he chose to recall 31 million bottles of Tylenol at the expense of $100 million, ultimately relaunching the product with a tamper-proof design. His actions became a prominent case of successful crisis management, and have served as a standard case study for numerous business practices. In 2000, he was one of few CEOs to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2003, Fortune magazine named Burke as one of the greatest CEOs in history.