Pfizer Chair and CEO Returns to Accept MKA Distinguished Alumni Award

Exhorting students to make the most of any and every opportunity that presents itself and to learn from those experiences, Jeff Kindler, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer and a member of the Montclair Academy class of 1973, returned to his alma mater to receive the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Introduced by MKA Headmaster Tom Nammack as “One of the most respected businessmen in the world, leading the world’s largest research-based biopharmaceutical company” Kindler received the award in front of an audience that included not only the Upper School student body, but also several members of the classes of 1973 and 1974, as well as family members including his wife, his mother his sister Beth Kindler Lloyd-Thomas ‘79 and his niece who had all joined him at an earlier celebratory luncheon.

Speaking on the day that many seniors were anxiously awaiting the results of college applications, Kindler used the occasion to recall his own disappointment at being rejected by Harvard and Yale and the path his life subsequently took as an illustration that things happen for a reason.   “Going to Tufts changed my life,” he noted, for not only did he love his college experience, he also met his wife “my life partner” there.  He urged students not to get too caught up in the moment nor to over-plan their future, but to embrace life and to be opportunistic and open to all its possibilities, concluding:  “Life will undoubtedly surprise you.”

Click here to view photos from the day.