Board of Directors

Dr. Ulrich Vischer held various top posts in the BASLER insurance group up until 1992. From 1992 to 2005 he was a member of the cantonal government and Head of the Finance Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Today, he is a partner in a law firm with offices in Basel and Zurich. He is also, inter alia, Chairman of the Basel University Board, a member of the Board of Directors of Warteck Invest AG and Chairman of the Sophie and Carl Binding Foundation.

1992 to 2005 member of the Board of Directors as a delegate of the Canton of Basel-Stadt

Christoph Brutschin has been a member of the cantonal government and Head of the Economic, Social Affairs and Environment Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt since 2009. He studied business administration in Zurich and economics and the teaching of economics in Fribourg before taking up employment with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and maxit AG. Prior to his election onto the executive of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, he worked at the Basel Commercial College – as a teacher and lecturer as of 1991 and then as the principal from 1996 onwards.

Marco Gadola studied economics in Basel, followed by other courses in London and Lausanne, before taking up senior posts in various international companies (including Sandoz, Hilti and Hero) in different countries. From 2006 to 2008 he was Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Straumann Group in Basel, before moving to Panalpina, where he was first CFO of the Panalpina Group, Basel and then Regional CEO Asia/Pacific, Singapore. In 2013 he returned to the Straumann Group in Basel, where he was responsible for group management as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Calida Group.

Werner Helfenstein graduated in construction engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). After completing his studies, he was a project manager and a member of the management at a Zurich engineering company. In 1985 he was appointed a member of the management of the Preiswerk construction group in Basel and then, in 1995, chairman of the management. Following this, he was CEO of BATIGROUP Holding AG from the time it was established in 1997 through to the point when it merged to form Implenia AG in March 2006. Today, he is a member of the Board of Directors of a number of non-listed companies and holds coaching mandates.

Dr. Eva Herzog has been a member of the cantonal government and Head of the Finance Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt since 2005. Before she was elected onto the executive of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Dr. Herzog, who gained her doctorate in history, was on the academic staff of the Research Vice-Rectorate at the University of Basel, and was also a member of the parliament and constitutional council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. She is additionally a member of the Board of Directors of the Basel-Stadt pension fund and Chairwoman of the Administrative Commission of the Basel-Stadt cantonal property insurers.

Dr.iur. Balz Hösly is a lawyer and partner at MME Legal | Tax | Compliance, an integrated law, tax and compliance firm in Zurich and Zug. He is an experienced practitioner in matters of governance and development and change management in private and public companies. Balz Hösly has previously worked in senior positions in different companies and, for the past four years, was CEO of the Swiss export promotion organisation Osec (now Switzerland – Global Enterprise). He is a lecturer at the Institute of Financial Services in Zug, at the ZfU Business School in Thalwil and at the University of St. Gallen. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of Greater Zurich Area AG and the AG Hallenstadion Zürich as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Showwerk AG in Aegeri and Bombardier Transportation (Schweiz) AG in Zurich.

Dr. Karin Lenzlinger Diedenhofen has been a delegate of the Board of Directors at Lenzlinger Söhne AG, Uster/Nänikon since 1999, and also ran the company as CEO until 2015. After gaining her doctorate in economics (Universities of Boston and St. Gallen) and engaging in various teaching and research assignments, she joined the company at the start of the 1990s as a member of the Board of Directors and a Business Segment Manager. She is Vice-Chairwoman of the Swiss Parquet Industry Association and a delegate at “bauenschweiz”, the umbrella organisation of the Swiss building industries. She is additionally Chairwoman of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce, a Board member at economiesuisse and also Chairwoman of the Board of ZO Medien AG, Wetzikon. She is similarly a member of the Board of Directors of the SV Group AG, Dübendorf and of Bank Linth LLB AG, Uznach.

Dr. André Odermatt has been head of City of Zurich's Building Department since 2010. He was a member of the Zurich City parliament from 1995 to 2010 and its chairman in 1999/2000. Dr. André Odermatt studied geography at the University of Zurich and received his PhD in 1996. He has held teaching posts at different school levels, was on the scientific staff at the University of Zurich and, prior to his election to the City Council, was ad interim Head of the Chair of Economic Geography. He is a member of the Board of Directors of "Regional Planning for Zurich and the Surrounding Area" (RZU), a member of the Board of Directors of AG Hallenstadion and AKEB Aktiengesellschaft für Kernenergie-Beteiligungen Luzern (until  18.06.2019) and a member of the Foundation Council of the Eleonorenstiftung.

Jean-Philippe Rochat is a lawyer with a licence to practice in the Canton of Vaud. Since 1998 he has been a partner at Kellerhals Carrard in Lausanne and is an expert in economic and sports law. Among other things, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Vetropack AG, Vaudoise Assurance Holding SA and La Foncière-Immobilienfonds. As Chairman of the Board of Directors of MCH Beaulieu Lausanne SA, Jean-Philippe Rochat was an observer on the Board of Directors of MCH Group AG from 2013 to 2017.

Thomas Weber was elected to the Basel-Landschaft cantonal government in 2013, where he is Head of the Economic Affairs and Health Department. With a degree in construction engineering from the Swiss Institute of Federal Technology (ETH), he worked for different engineering and construction companies before being elected a member of the cantonal government. From 2002 to 2006, he worked in Basel-Landschaft's Civil Engineering Department and from 2007 to 2013 he was at the Federal Roads Office with responsibility for the main-road infrastructure in central and northwest Switzerland. Thomas Weber represents the Canton of Basel-Landschaft on the Board of Directors of the Swiss Rhine Ports.

After studying sociology and marketing at the University of Zurich, Andreas Widmer worked in market research for two years before joining the Wunderman marketing agency in 1993. In 1996, he founded Futurecom interactive AG, then, in 2003, he took over the management of Wunderman and, in 2007, the management of Advico Young & Rubicam. Together with other business units, he merged these companies to form the Young & Rubicam Group Switzerland in 2008, and was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the group until 30.09.2017. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vintra AG and a member of the Board of Walde & Partner and the Brino Group AG.