The Curator of Chemistry

Meet the 2025 NACD Directorship 100^™ B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Donald Knauss, and learn more about his people-first approach to governance.

“Integrity is the grease of commerce,” Donald Knauss likes to say. To Knauss, trust derives from integrity. “When people trust you, you can get things done a lot more quickly,” he said.

Focusing on people and building trust are core tenets of Knauss’s selfless approach to leadership. In nominating him for the B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement award, named after a former NACD chair, Knauss’s colleagues wrote that this approach was informed by his service in the US Marine Corps.

Knauss joined the Marine Corps in 1976 and was soon an artillery officer in Kaneohe, Hawaii. He recalled how, one morning, a senior leader pulled him out of the food line and reminded him that in the field, leaders eat last.

In that moment, Knauss realized, “It’s about the mission. It’s about them; it’s not about you. And you’ve got to set the example of this selflessness.”

Shared Growth and Mutual Respect

Knauss began his business career at Procter & Gamble Co. He later worked at PepsiCo in various marketing and sales positions and at the Coca-Cola Co. in roles such as president of the Minute Maid Co. and president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola North America. In 2006, he became chair and CEO of the Clorox Co.; he retired from Clorox in 2015.

Now, Knauss is lead director and chair of the nominating and governance committee at Kellanova; chair of McKesson Corp.; and a board member at Target Corp. Knauss also serves on the University of San Diego board of trustees and on the Marine Corps University Foundation board of trustees, of which he became vice chair in 2024.

Colleagues wrote that, in the boardroom, Knauss’s ethos is that “strong governance depends on shared growth and mutual respect.”

“If you’re going to recruit and train and retain the best talent out there, you’re going to have to coach those folks. They have to believe that you care more about them than you care about yourself, and that you care more about their success than your own, and then your success will come along with theirs,” Knauss said.

In recommending Knauss for this award, Mary Laschinger, a director who serves with Knauss on the Kellanova board, noted that he helped her grow as a director and learn best board practices. “His mentorship has been a major part of my learning and success as a director,” she wrote.

Knauss’s nominators also said that he believes in the power of “board chemistry,” which includes the sharing of values such as integrity, intellectual curiosity, humility, compassion, and a sense of optimism. When the board is aligned on values and the company’s mission, Knauss said, directors can work together and constructively challenge one another to be a strategic asset to the company they serve.

“Mr. Knauss doesn’t elevate himself or his voice above other board members,” wrote Brian Tyler, CEO of McKesson, in a nomination letter. “He creates a culture where every voice is heard and listened to.”

People Before Profits

Knauss has provided leadership through high-stakes decisions and transformations, including McKesson’s exit from its European assets. Knauss “raised thoughtful questions about focus, efficiency, and long-term value creation,” which led to the exit—“a move that significantly improved McKesson’s financial performance and strategic positioning,” Tyler wrote.

In addition, Knauss helped lead Kellanova through the spin-off of its North American cereal business. At the century-old company, he met the “intellectual challenge” of ensuring that employees remained motivated and engaged in the aftermath of “splitting apart a company that is iconic in the American pantheon of businesses,” Knauss said.

As the former chair of the University of San Diego board of trustees, Knauss helped guide the university through improvement projects and the creation of the Knauss Center for Business Education. Knauss said that he and his wife sought to remove the negative connotation associated with capitalism, and to do this, they wanted the business school to embrace creating wealth and offering opportunity on a fair and equitable playing field.

“At the Knauss School of Business, we pursue the greater good and serve a higher purpose. We put people—and planet—before profits,” wrote James T. Harris III, president of the university.

This sense of community and focus on people, pervasive across Knauss’s career, is also evident in his reaction to receiving this year’s B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement award.

The award, Knauss said, is “a testimony to the caliber of the companies I’ve had the good fortune to work in and the caliber of the people in management and on the boards I’ve worked with.” ■

This article is from the winter 2026 issue of Directorship.

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