Meet the Innovative R&D Senior Vice President Honored by the American Chemical Society

At the Fall meeting of the American Chemical Society, the Division of Business Development and Management presented Gerard Baillely, Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Function R&D, P&G, with the Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award of Excellence to recognize his outstanding contributions to the development and management of business within the chemical enterprise.

This is the first time in P&G’s history that an employee receives this prestigious honor. It demonstrates the powerful impact of Gerard’s leadership in chemical innovations both at P&G and in the chemical industry. It also illustrates P&G’s commitment to stimulate advances in chemistry related innovation and talents.

Gerard started his career at P&G in 1985 when he joined after receiving his Chemistry degree from the Ecole Superieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon in his native country of France. Over the years, Gerard developed countless innovations for personal hygiene and cleaning brands like Tide, Crest, Oral B, Swiffer and Microban. He was instrumental in the revolutionary Dawn Power Wash, which he says is “a representative icon on how we put together new-to-the-world chemistry, spray devices and packaging —changing the dish washing game forever.”

In 2005, Gerard had a hand in the first version of Tide Cold Water, an innovation that allowes consumers to use 50% less energy while washing their clothes. Over the past decade, this invention has been estimated to help avoid 15 million metric tons of CO2, and with more savings to come. Click here to learn more about cold water washing and how it saves energy.

Today, you can find Gerard encouraging his teams to raise the bar with all manner of scientific practices. He leads company-wide R&D capabilities from biosciences and hygiene, data analytics & modeling sciences, which are fundamental to innovation across the company’s portfolio of leading brands. He is known for his unique combination of technical mastery and vision, always challenging the status quo.

When asked what has kept him excited each day over 37 years at P&G, Gerard notes “There is a magic combination of three factors that energize me; the amazing people I work with, the relentless chase to articulate the problems we seek to resolve and the ability to leverage the power engine of P&G to bring innovative solutions to the market and to consumers’ hands.”

Outside of P&G, Gerard remains an active board member for several non-profit and professional associations, including his current tenure on the Chemical Sciences and Technology Board within the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. Outside of the office, Gerard notes he’s a bit of an introvert and enjoys quiet time reading and learning about history and chemistry or listening to classical music.

Gerard noted, “Reading chemical reviews helps me stay in touch with industry developments, while history teaches that we must not repeat the past but continue to innovate to build sustainable strategies for the future. In this way, I reflect on the past to help build the future.”

Click here to learn more about P&G innovation.