TITLE: Vice-President of Market Operations in North America EDUCATION: B. S. , Mathematics, U. S. Naval Academy, 1986 WITH COMPANY SINCE: October 1998 ADVICE FOR NEW GRADUATES: Begin the sale of your skill sets early and learn how to be very good at it. Expect to lead the day you walk into a new company. All corporations, including Pfizer, are looking for young leaders to develop.	LINZELL HARRIS

What makes you proudest about working for Pfizer?

The Pfizer colleague base truly believes in this corporation and stands behind it. Also, you move into Pfizer for a career and not just for a job —there are many opportunities around the world that you have access to.

What do you think makes Pfizer so attractive to minority students?

We feel that we have an important position within industry to help people better their lives. Also, we offer careers —not jobs or one-time positions, but careers. At Pfizer, we have many long-term colleagues who have been developed from their first jobs all the way up to the executive level.

If you were to highlight one competence or strength that Pfizer works to develop in its employees, what would it be?

The competence that we speak of constantly is leadership. We build leaders by being inclusive and expecting that everyone with a new idea or concept brings that idea for ward. While you are being trained and educated about the business, we expect you to add whatever ideas you have to our ability to grow.

What would students find most surprising about working for Pfizer?

I don't think any student could imagine what a generous company we are to the community. We not only provide donations and work on the boards of local organizations, but we put our hands to work — which I think is most important.

How is a diverse workforce important to your company's success?

We serve a world community that does not look the same; therefore, we as a corporation must not think the same. Our ability to serve different communities and international markets makes it imperative that we are diverse both in our demographic makeup and in our career experiences.

Describe your company's diversity initiative.

We bring in a significant amount of external resources to provide education and dialogue around the area of diversity —how to manage a diverse workforce and how to manage within a corporation as a diverse person.

Once a new hire enters the company, many of our divisions offer mentoring programs to help them bridge the on-boarding period. I find that this period can be toughest for a diverse colleague facing issues that are a little bit particular to their diversity group. We understand that and provide an environment where new hires can ask questions that they may not feel comfortable asking in an open forum.

Has the recession impacted Pfizer's commitment to diversity recruitment?

Pfizer has been one of the few companies that has grown larger during this time period. The recession hasn't had any impact on our commitment to diversity recruitment —we have some very strong programs in place with universities, and are moving for ward to ensure that we have a diverse population within our colleague ranks.

What does the future look like for Pfizer?

Our mission is to become the most valued corporation —and our strategic focus, priorities, and activities are putting us in position to do just that. I think the future is very bright for Pfizer and our colleagues.