Dean Banks, age 46, an independent director at Tyson Foods, Inc., will assume the Springdale, Arkansas-headquartered company’s helm on December 20. He will succeed and report to 61-year-old Noel White, who will continue to serve as chief executive officer. Banks will remain a member of the Tyson Foods board and will be considered a non‐independent director.
The new president will bring a wealth of leadership experience and a background in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology to his new position. He joins Tyson Foods enterprise leadership team from X, an Alphabet Inc. company (formerly known as Google [x]), where he has been a member of the leadership team since 2016 and started and led multiple projects.
John Tyson, chairman of the board of directors, stated: “I have gotten to know Dean well over the past several years, particularly during his two years on our board, where he has demonstrated that he is a thoughtful leader who respects and appreciates the historical Tyson Foods culture. As the board reflected on its talent acquisition and development pipeline, it became apparent, given Dean’s strong cultural fit with our organization and unique leadership experience and background in innovation and technology, that we could benefit from his distinctive abilities and personality on our enterprise leadership team.”
CEO White added: “At a time of unprecedented change in the protein industry, we’re focused on capitalizing on our diversified business model and innovation to execute our growth strategy. As we increasingly integrate advanced technologies into our operations, we’re pleased to add a leader of Dean’s caliber to our leadership team. From his service on the Tyson Foods board, Dean has developed a keen understanding of our business to go with his deep knowledge of the technologies and innovations that can help unlock opportunities now and in the future.”
Prior to joining Alphabet Inc., Banks was managing partner at SEED Ventures, a group investing in and developing early stage healthcare technologies. He also has served as a consultant to Cleveland Clinic Innovations, was ceo of Occelerator, senior vice president of business development and strategic marketing at OrthoHelix, co‐founder and ceo of Connective Orthopedics, and vice president at Highland Capital Partners.
He was also a former platoon sergeant and squad leader in the US Marine Corps, hold a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Public Relations from Miami University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
