Testimonial Leadership

Twenty years ago I began my career with Covance as a Quality Assurance Auditor. In 2006 I was promoted to Corporate Senior Vice President and President of Covance Central Laboratories.

This journey has been an exciting one—and one that has often left me wondering if my latest promotion was the one that had finally exceeded my capabilities. But that has never happened here. That's because Covance stands behind you in your career journey, believing that if you are willing to work hard and invest in developing yourself, Covance should invest in you.

In looking back, I feel that the secret to my success has been that I took advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. I took assignments that weren't promotions, but that I knew would build my competencies and knowledge of Covance's functional areas. I took positions with divisions that were growing and some that were not. These career moves built the breadth and depth of my knowledge and made me ready for new challenges as they arose.

With the growth that we are experiencing, it is an exciting time to be a leader at Covance! Our organization is not too large or too small, allowing for leadership autonomy in an established company framework. We've forged strong partnerships with our clients who highly value our role in bringing their pharmaceuticals to market sooner. We're poised for a promising future.

Often I am asked how I have stayed with one company for 20 years. There are three clear reasons why I am still with Covance today; our purpose of bringing the miracles of medicine to market sooner, the intellectual stimulation of continuous learning and the fact that I am never bored.

I honestly don't know where else I could work that would be more interesting or challenging than Covance. I've found the opportunities at Covance to be endless. I encourage you to see what Covance has to offer!

With warm regards,
Deb Tanner

Ms. Tanner has responsibility for the Company's Central Laboratory Services. She is a member of the Global Leadership Council and reports to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Tanner's career at Covance began in 1987, when she joined what was then called Hazleton Laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin, as a Quality Assurance Auditor. She subsequently held various managerial positions in metabolism and bioanalytical chemistry and headed Global Marketing for Covance's early development business. She then spent two years in Harrogate, UK, leading Analytical Services for Europe. After 14 years in the early development businesses, she was promoted to Vice President of Global Clinical Trial Management Services and Operations for Central Laboratories, eventually assuming additional responsibilities as Site Head for the Indianapolis facility. She became President of Central Laboratories in 2006.