A Profile of Jim Burke.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2000

During Jim Burke's remarkable career, he has made unique contributions to his country, and to Johnson & Johnson, where he spent 37 years and became one of the nation's best known and most admired chairmen and chief executive officers.

His national acclaim came from his leadership during the infamous Tylenol poisonings of the 1980s, when a new form of terrorism -- product tampering -- threatened the safety of American consumers. Guided by the philosophy set forth in the Johnson & Johnson Credo, Burke and his colleagues took prompt action to protect consumers by rapidly removing the product from the market, putting public safety ahead of company profits. This action -- along with their complete openness with the news media -- brought high praise to Johnson & Johnson and to Jim Burke in what has been described as the most threatening crisis ever faced by an American company.

As he approached retirement in 1989, Burke was deeply concerned about another national crisis -- a raging epidemic of illegal drug abuse that was spreading across America. He was urged to become chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a fledgling organization that had sprung up in the advertising industry, and was attempting to use advertising and marketing communications to "unsell" drugs to Americans. Burke, who was known for his extraordinary marketing skills, believed that the concept could work, particularly among the nation's youth, who were tempted to try illegal drugs for the first time.

Instead of taking a well-earned retirement, Burke became the full-time, unpaid Chairman of the Partnership. Eleven years later, at the age of 75, he is still serving America in this capacity.

Under his leadership, the Partnership has tapped the most creative talent in advertising and generated more than $3 billion in pro bono media exposure for its national anti-drug media campaign. Jim Burke's passionate commitment to solving the problem of drug abuse has resulted in the largest and most persuasive public service campaign in the history of advertising. The hard-hitting television commercials and print ads have become a significant factor in reducing drug use, especially among young people.

Born in Rutland, Vermont in 1925, Burke grew up in the small upstate New York town of Slingerlands. After commanding a landing craft tank in the Pacific during World War II as an ensign in the United States Navy, Burke completed his college education and was graduated from Holy Cross College in 1947 and from the Harvard Business School in 1949. In 1953, he joined Johnson & Johnson and began a steady rise through the ranks of the company. During his 16 years as president and then chairman of Johnson & Johnson (1973-1989), the company experienced unprecedented success and global expansion. Burke brought into play skills he had learned at the Harvard Business School, building a reputation for his open and participatory management style. He often generated heated debates among his managers, in pursuit of the right decisions.

Burke followed a policy of managing the business for the long term, and was dedicated to keeping Johnson & Johnson a decentralized family of companies. He subscribed to the company's long-standing commitment to building strong management, and to being aggressively creative in new product development. He presided over the selection of the company's first outside board members, and placed renewed emphasis on the role that women played.

It is not just his business acumen, or his communications skills, or his management expertise that sets Jim Burke apart. In the recent biography "Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel," Burke was described as "a person of exceptional integrity." This quality, perhaps more than any of his other attributes, defines him. It was his concern for openness and honesty that led him to challenge the way in which Johnson & Johnson managers viewed the company's revered credo, the one-page statement of corporate responsibility written by Robert Wood Johnson decades earlier.

The credo outlined four corporate responsibilities in this order of priority -- customers, employees, communities, and, lastly, shareholders. Just before taking over as chairman and CEO in 1976, Burke challenged the company and its employees to either believe in and practice the credo, or take it off the walls of the companies around the world where it was on prominent display. Such a challenge to the company's long-held beliefs and tradition was viewed by many as heretical. But Burke prevailed, and the credo was carefully examined by the company's worldwide management at a series of meetings over which he presided. The philosophy remained intact, but words were changed and the new credo was embraced by Johnson & Johnson employees with a renewed sense of commitment.

It was the credo that served as management's guideline in dealing with the Tylenol tragedies of 1982 and 1986 that claimed the lives of eight people. By putting the consumer first, and relying on a policy of truth and trust, the company was able to regain the public's confidence in Tylenol and Johnson & Johnson.

Burke made numerous appearances on network television and was written about extensively in the national press. It was this public recognition that enabled him to step up to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America challenge, and to become immediately effective in that new role.

By the time Burke retired from Johnson & Johnson, he had accumulated some 30 awards and honorary degrees. He consistently shortened his biographical sketch to the bare essentials, omitting all of the honors he had received. It was to no avail. During his 11 years at the Partnership, he has been given many new honors for excelling in his new role.

General Barry R. McCaffrey, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy, is leading new efforts to reduce drug use, with special focus on the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, modeled on the pioneering work of the Partnership.

"Jim Burke's talents and energy have built one of America's greatest and most effective non-profit institutions," McCaffrey said recently. "He is one extraordinary marketing man, one remarkable corporate and civic leader."

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (www.drugfreeamerica.org) is a private, non-profit coalition of professionals from the communications industry. Best known for its national, anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership's mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs through media communication. To date, approximately $3 billion in media exposure and some 600 ads have been donated to the Partnership's national campaign, making this the single, largest public service ad campaign in history. Beginning in 1998, PDFA advertising began appearing in paid media exposure as part of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, coordinated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. PDFA accepts no money from alcohol or tobacco manufacturers. Major funding for PDFA is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.