DALLAS, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) today announced that Marc L. Kesselman will join as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Government Affairs. He joins Dean Foods from PepsiCo, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Frito-Lay North America and PepsiCo's food businesses in North and South America.
Kesselman brings a unique combination of corporate law and high-level government experience. At PepsiCo, he oversaw a wide variety of complex commercial, transactional, litigation, regulatory, and government affairs issues relating to PepsiCo's food business in North and South America. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Kesselman served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture. After being nominated to this position by the President and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, he advised the Secretary of Agriculture and directed all legal activity for the Department.
Kesselman will begin on January 26 and will report to Gregg A. Tanner, Chief Executive Officer.
"Marc brings a wealth of global legal and business experience, and has been a trusted advisor to senior executives focused on business growth. He also is a well-respected and proven leader who will be a great complement to our outstanding legal team," said Tanner. "I believe he already embodies the Company's Guiding Principles, making him an ideal fit for Dean Foods. I'm thrilled to welcome him to our organization."
Prior to his roles at PepsiCo and USDA, Kesselman served as Deputy General Counsel in the White House Office of Management and Budget. There he handled a wide range of regulatory, budgetary and legal policy matters, mediated interagency disputes, and formulated Presidential Executive Orders. Kesselman has also worked at the United States Department of Justice as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy, and as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division. The Attorney General presented Kesselman with the John Marshall Award, the Department of Justice's highest award for trial of litigation.
Previously, Kesselman worked as an attorney in the Washington, DC office of Ropes & Gray. He began his legal career as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons, then the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Kesselman graduated with high honors from Cornell University, and with honors from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
ABOUT DEAN FOODS
Dean Foods® is a leading food and beverage company in the United States and is the nation's largest processor and direct-to-store distributor of fluid milk. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the Dean Foods portfolio includes TruMoo®, the leading national flavored milk brand, along with well-known regional dairy brands such as Alta Dena®, Berkeley Farms®, Country Fresh®, Dean's®, Garelick Farms®, LAND O LAKES® milk and cultured products*, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms®, Mayfield®, McArthur®, Meadow Gold®, Oak Farms®, Pet®**, T.G. Lee®, Tuscan® and more. In all, Dean Foods has more than 50 local and regional dairy brands and private labels. Dean Foods also makes and distributes ice cream, cultured products, juices, teas, and bottled water. Nearly 18,000 employees across the country work every day to make Dean Foods the most admired and trusted provider of wholesome, great-tasting dairy products at every occasion. For more information about Dean Foods and its brands, visit www.deanfoods.com.
*The LAND O LAKES brand is owned by Land O'Lakes, Inc. and is used by license.
**PET is a trademark of The J.M. Smucker Company and is used by license.
CONTACT: Corporate Communications, Jamaison Schuler, +1-214-721-7766; or Investor Relations, Scott Vopni, +1- 214-303-3438
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SOURCE Dean Foods Company