Candidates for the Corner Office

Terrie Curran, 42
Senior vice-president, global women’s health, Merck

An Australian by birth, Terrie Curran runs Merck’s $3.2 billion women’s health unit, which sells everything from contraception to hormone replacement therapy. She arrived at Merck when the merger with Schering Plough went through in November 2009 and helped employees integrate while developing a global strategy for women’s health products.