Ruth Venning

Executive Director, Investor Relations, Horizon Therapeutics

Ruth Venning joined Horizon Pharma in May 2017 as its executive director of investor relations. The $2 billion biopharmaceutical company specializes in medicines for rare diseases.

Working closely with the investment community and Horizon leaders, Venning is integrally involved with IR strategic planning, messaging, analytics and investor communications. In addition, she coordinates the development of investor-relations communications, manages IR activities and drives Horizon Pharma’s proxy outreach efforts.

In her current post, Venning draws on her deep experience in investor relations, corporate communications and crisis management. Most recently, she was director of investor relations for Hospira, Inc., a generic injectable pharmaceutical and medical device company. Pfizer acquired Hospira in 2015.  

During her 10 years with Hospira, Venning was responsible for day-to-day communication with the investment community, as well as institutional targeting, proxy outreach, retail shareholder relations, and the production of the annual report and other investor material. She launched the company’s proxy outreach program in 2010 and spearheaded Hospira’s adoption of the notice-and-access distribution model in 2009, ahead of the adoption curve for practices that now are standard in investor relations.

Before joining Hospira, Venning was director of corporate relations for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., where she managed corporate communications and investor relations. Prior to that, she served United Airlines for five years in financial communications and investor relations roles. Earlier, she directed corporate communications for Calamos Asset Management, a Chicago-area investment management firm. Venning began her career in international public relations, working primarily for the Japanese government in Japan.

Venning holds an MBA in finance from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a master’s degree in corporate communications from Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s degree in Japanese studies from Earlham College. She is an adjunct instructor in Northwestern University’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program.

Long active in the NIRI-Chicago chapter, Venning has served on the NIRI-Chicago board of directors since 2004, including as the board’s president in 2007 and chairman in 2008. She currently is the chapter’s treasurer. She also is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).