Ajit, Baron Shetty is an Indian-Belgian businessman, who was born in Nellore, India on 20 May 1946.[1] He is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company and subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, with its headquarters in Beerse, Belgium. Shetty also serves as president of Global Chemical & Pharmaceutical Operations for Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey in the United States. He is married to Christine Clerinx, a niece of the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, the late Paul Janssen, and lives in Vosselaar.
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He spent his early years in Chennai, Tamil Nadu India, where he did his schooling at Madras Christian College and graduated from Loyola College in Chennai. He received a B.A. degree in Natural Sciences and a PhD degree in Metallurgy from Trinity College at Cambridge University. In 1976, he obtained an MSIA degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also fluent in several languages, including Dutch.
He joined Janssen Pharmaceutica, in 1976 and has held various positions in the company, including President of Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc., Piscataway, New Jersey, USA, from 1986 until 1989 in order to establish the business in the USA. Shetty is General Manager of Janssen Animal Health in Belgium (since October 1997). He has been Managing Director of Janssen Pharmaceutica since 1999 and Chairman of the Board of Directors, since 2004, when he succeeded Bob Stouthuysen
Shetty has been a Member of the Board of Directors of INNOTEK Geel since May 1996. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of VOKA since April 2000, and a Member of the Board of Directors of Forum 187 in Brussels since April 2006, and was elected as its Chairman in May 2006.
He was elected Manager of the Year in 2004 in Flanders by the magazine Trends and the Flemish Management Association (VMA). In 2007, Albert II of Belgium bestowed the title of Baron on Ajit Shetty for his exceptional merits.[2][3]