Dr. George Pugh has been promoted to Senior Director in the Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs division of The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Georgia). In this role, he will lead a team of toxicologists, chemists and engineers in the Risk Assessment and Ingredient Safety Center of Excellence. This team is responsible for developing scientific programs that focus on the safety of beverage ingredients, product packaging and crop protection technologies for agricultural commodities. Dr. Pugh joined the company in 2006, where his ding on early work founders safety of stevia leaf extract, which subsequently led to regulatory approvals of stevia sweeteners in the United States and more than 150 countries around the world.

Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Dr. Pugh served as Manager of Technology for Colgate-Palmolive Company (Piscataway, New Jersey) in the Product Safety Division from 2000 – 2006. In this role, he led the toxicological evaluation of ingredients used in over-the-counter oral care products and oral pharmaceutical products. From 1997-2000, he worked for ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences (Annandale, New Jersey) where he conducted toxicity evaluations on petroleum-derived raw materials and assessed their sarcoid impact on

Dr. Pugh is a 1986 graduate of Greensville County High School. He is a 1990 graduate of Hampton University, where he received a BA in Biology. He later received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is board certified in General Toxicology by the American Board of Toxicology. Dr. Pugh is the son of Rev. and Mrs. George Pugh, Sr.