November 8, 2023
Susan Silbermann
Susan Silbermann, MBA, M.A., is a former senior executive at Pfizer, starting as a summer intern and retiring after more than 30 years, having served the company in leadership on three continents across multiple businesses. In her final post, she served as global president of Emerging Markets, responsible for 10,000 colleagues across over 100 countries, inclusive of Pfizer’s Vaccines business. She created and drove Pfizer’s internal COVID-19 task force, ensuring global colleague safety and business continuity. Prior to this Silbermann was the first global president of Pfizer Vaccines, expanding the portfolio from one product to many, from internally developed to externally sourced. She held positions in marketing, general management, business, and commercial development in the U.S. and abroad, and partnered with research and development, manufacturing, and government/public affairs. She also led numerous initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Silbermann brings multiple governance experiences to IAVI, having served on the boards of GAVI; Catalyst, Inc.; the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business; and Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board. Further, she was the vice chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa.
Currently, Silbermann is a board director at HilleVax, Inc. and at LianBio. She is a board member of Harvard’s Defeating Malaria: from Gene to Globe Initiative, as well as Meet the Writers, a nonprofit bringing together authors and students in low-income NYC public schools.
Silbermann holds a B.S. in biology and French from Tufts University and a joint MBA/M.A. in business administration and French political and social studies from NYU’s Stern School of Business and the Institute of French Studies at NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.