Vasella will be replacing Cary Rayment who had served as chairman since 3 May 2005.
Rayment will remain on the board and will serve as its vice-chairman.
Vasella is also working as the chairman of the board of Novartis, which became Alcon’s majority owner after it purchased 52% of Alcon’s shares from Nestle SA.
Alcon president and CEO Kevin Buehler said that they welcome Vasella into the chairman position and look forward to working with him on Alcon board matters.
