Find out more about the Board of Directors of the Schindler Group.
| Name | Nationality | Function | Year of election* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silvio Napoli | Italian | Chairman, CEO, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee | 2016 |
| Alfred N. Schindler | Swiss | Chairman emeritus | 1977 |
| Patrice Bula | Swiss | Vice Chairman | 2015 |
| Luc Bonnard | Swiss | Member | 1984 |
| Prof. Dr. Monika Bütler | Swiss | Member | 2013 |
| Christoph Mäder | Swiss | Member | 2024 |
| Günter Schäuble | German and Swiss | Member, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee | 2021 |
| Tobias B. Staehelin | Swiss | Member | 2017 |
| Carole Vischer | Swiss | Member | 2013 |
| Petra A. Winkler | Swiss | Member | 2022 |
| Prof. Dr. Thomas H. Zurbuchen | Swiss | Member | 2024 |
* Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in the year shown
Chairman and CEO
Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee and of the Nomination Committee since 2017, member of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory and Strategy Committee since 2016, CEO of the Schindler Group since 2022.
Nonexecutive member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Innovation & Technology Committee of Eaton Corporation plc, Dublin, Ireland.
Silvio Napoli holds a master’s degree in materials science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, which he earned as a Fulbright Scholar.
He began his career at The Dow Chemical Co., Rheinmünster, Germany, in 1989. Silvio Napoli has held various international management functions in the Schindler Group since 1994. From 2008 to 2013, he served as a member of the Group Executive Committee with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region. He then served as CEO of the Schindler Group until March 2016.
Silvio Napoli is an Italian citizen, born in 1965.
Chairman emeritus
Chairman emeritus, member of the Board of Directors since 1977, independent member since 2020, member of the Nomination Committee since 2017.
Alfred N. Schindler holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and an MBA from The Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
He began his career in 1974 as an auditor at Neutra Treuhand AG, Berne. From 1980, he served as CFO of Notz AG, Biel, Switzerland. He subsequently held various management positions at the Schindler Group. In 1982, he was appointed Head of Corporate Planning and he served as CEO of the Schindler Group from 1985 to 2011. Alfred N. Schindler was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Schindler Holding Ltd. and Chairman of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee from 1995 until 2017. He currently serves as an advisor to Schindler.
In order to focus fully on the business of the Schindler company, Alfred N. Schindler previously resigned from the following mandates: Bank Julius Bär, UBS, Jacobs Suchard (all in Switzerland), and Deutsche Post AG.
Alfred N. Schindler is a Swiss citizen, born in 1949.
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2023, nonexecutive, independent member of the Board of Directors since 2015, member of the Compensation Committee since 2017.
Chairman of Froneri Lux Topco S.à r.l. (joint venture between Nestlé and R&R Ice Cream), Luxembourg. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland, and of New Tiger LLC, Delaware, USA.
Patrice Bula holds a master’s degree in economic sciences from the University of Lausanne, HEC, Switzerland. He completed the Program for Executive Development at IMD Business School, Lausanne, Switzerland.
From 1983 to 2021 he held various international functions in the Nestlé Group. From 2011 until his retirement in 2021, he served as Executive Vice President of Nestlé S.A., with responsibility for the Strategic Business Units, Marketing, Sales and Nespresso. Prior to that, he served as Market Head of Nestlé Greater China Region (2007 to 2011), among other roles.
Patrice Bula is a Swiss citizen, born in 1956.
Member
Member of the Board of Directors since 1984, independent member since 2015, and member of the Nomination Committee since 2017.
Luc Bonnard holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland.
He joined the Schindler Group in 1972 and has held various management positions, including Head of the Elevators & Escalators business. He served as a member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee from 1991 to 2012, as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1996 to March 2017, and as Chairman of the Audit Committee from 2013 to March 2019. He currently serves as an advisor to Schindler.
Luc Bonnard is a Swiss citizen, born in 1946.
Member
Nonexecutive, independent member of the Board of Directors since 2013, member of the Audit Committee since 2017, member of the Compensation Committee since 2023.
Member of the Boards of Directors of Swiss Life Holding AG, HUBER+SUHNER AG, Herisau, Switzerland, and of AC Immune SA, Lausanne, Switzerland; Vice President of the Foundation Board of the Gebert Rüf Foundation, Basel, Switzerland; and member of the Foundation Board of the Max Schmidheiny-Stiftung at the University St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Monika Bütler holds a doctorate in economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and a degree in mathematics, majoring in physics, from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
From 2004 to January 2021, she served as Full Professor of Economics and Director of the Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. From 2009 to 2013, she served as Dean of the School of Economics and Political Science of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 2008 and 2011, she was a Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. In February 2021, she was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Monika Bütler is a Swiss citizen, born in 1961.
Member
Nonexecutive, independent member of the Board of Directors since 2024.
President of economiesuisse, Zurich, Switzerland, vice president of the Board of Directors of Bâloise Holding AG, Basel, Switzerland, and Lonza Group AG, Basel, Switzerland, member of the Board of Directors of Assivalor AG, Basel, Switzerland, of the Bank Council of the Swiss National Bank, Zurich/Bern, Switzerland. He is also a partner at Becker / Gurini / Partner, Attorneys + Notary, Lenzburg, Switzerland.
Christoph Mäder holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
After being admitted to the bar and working as a research assistant for constitutional and administrative law at the University of Basel, Switzerland, Christoph Mäder worked at the Aargau Chamber of Industry and Commerce before serving as Chief Legal Counsel for Sandoz and Novartis from 1992. From 2000 to 2018, Christoph Mäder was member of the Group Executive Committee of Syngenta, Basel, Switzerland.
Christoph Mäder is a Swiss citizen, born in 1959.
Member, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee
Executive member of the Board of Directors since 2021, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee and of the Audit Committee since 2022, Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2023.
Member of the advisory board of the association Vereinigung Schweizer Unternehmen in Deutschland (VSUD), Basel, Switzerland.
Günter Schäuble holds a degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences – Public Administration and Finance, Ludwigsburg, Germany, and he completed the Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California, USA. He is a German and Swiss Certified Tax Expert.
He began his career in 1987 in the legal department of the regional tax authority in Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany, and moved to the private sector in 1991. Before joining Schindler in 2001, he served as Vice President in the Corporate Tax department of ABB Ltd., Zurich, Switzerland. Until December 31, 2021, Günter Schäuble was Head Global Finance & Tax at Schindler.
Günter Schäuble is a German and Swiss citizen, born in 1962.
Member, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee
Executive member of the Board of Directors since 2017, member of the Group Executive Committee since April 2021, member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee since 2024.
Member of the Board of Directors of Kühne + Nagel International AG, Schindellegi, Switzerland.
Tobias B. Staehelin holds a degree in law and a CEMS master in international management from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He completed joint studies in law at the Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, USA, and at the Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain (master of laws with honors). He is a licensed attorney-at-law admitted to the bar in Geneva, Switzerland.
He practiced law in Geneva before joining the Schindler Group in 2009. He has since held various positions including Project Sales Manager of the Top Range Division in China and General Manager of Jardine Schindler, Macau. From 2015 to 2017, he served as Regional Director South West at Schindler Deutschland GmbH. From 2018 to March 2021, he was Managing Director of the C. Haushahn Group, Germany.
Tobias B. Staehelin is a Swiss citizen, born in 1978.
Member
Nonexecutive, independent member of the Board of Directors since 2013, member of the Audit Committee since 2016.
President of the Thyll-Stiftung (charitable foundation), Stansstad, Switzerland.
Carole Vischer holds a degree in law from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
From 2002 to 2011, she served as the Director of the Thyll-Stiftung, Stansstad, Switzerland.
Carole Vischer is a Swiss citizen, born in 1971.
Member
Executive member of the Board of Directors since 2022.
Petra A. Winkler holds a master's degree in law from the University of Bern, Switzerland and from New York University, New York City, USA. She has completed the Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California, USA, and is a licensed attorney-at-law admitted to the bar in Bern, Switzerland.
Petra A. Winkler practiced law in Zurich and London before joining the Schindler Group in 2006. She has since held various positions in Group Legal Services. Since April 2019 she has been serving as the Group General Counsel.
Petra A. Winkler is a Swiss citizen, born in 1970.
Member
Nonexecutive, independent member of the Board of Directors since 2024.
Member of the Board of Advisors of Voyager Space Holdings, Inc. Denver, USA, and member of the Advisory Board of McKinley, Inc, Ann Arbor, USA.
Prof. Dr. Thomas H. Zurbuchen studied physics with a minor in mathematics at the University of Berne, Switzerland, where he was awarded his PhD in experimental astrophysics in 1996. He then joined the University of Michigan, USA, where, in 2008, he was made Professor of Space Science and Aerospace Engineering. From 2016 to 2022 he served as Head of Science at NASA, the leading program worldwide for science in and from space.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen has received numerous international awards. He is recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, including one in 2022 at ETH Zurich, where he has been serving as Professor of Space Science and Technology since 2023.
Thomas H. Zurbuchen is a Swiss citizen, born in 1968.