Deryck J. van Rensburg has 32 years of business experience in general management and marketing roles across three continents with The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever plc. He has lived and worked in a wide range of markets including modern established markets, as well as developing and emerging economies. He recently retired from Coca-Cola and has accepted the position of Dean of the business school at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA.
Recently at Coca-Cola, Deryck was President of Global Ventures focused on the Keurig Green Mountain strategic partnership and he was President & GM of Venturing & Emerging Brands for Coca-Cola USA. In this role he was responsible for identifying and developing brands with $1Billion potential via entrepreneurial partnering, corporate venture capital investment, intrapreneurial incubation, and acquisition. His work has been featured as a part of the 2009 CNBC Original documentary on “Coca-Cola: The Real Story Behind the Real Thing”. In 2011, he was nominated by Advertising Age magazine as one of 21 ‘Influencers’ reshaping media and marketing. He has also been nominated to the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 100 in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Prior to living in the USA, Deryck held several Division President roles such as: President of the Germany & Nordic Division based in Berlin and President of the Southeast Europe & Gulf Division based in Athens. He also worked for Unilever in marketing roles in the United Kingdom and South Africa before joining Coca-Cola.
He is married to Rozanne who is a midwife and nurse by training and they have four children. The family has lived in the United States, Germany, Greece, Romania, Austria, United Kingdom, Belgium, and South Africa. Deryck holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University in South Africa, an MBA with distinction from the University of Bath, and a DBA from the University of Manchester in England. He has also attended executive management programs at Harvard, Wharton, Berkeley, Stanford, Emory, and Ashridge.