Ulrika Francke
ISO President - Sweden
Ulrika Francke has been elected ISO President for a two-year term starting from January 2022 and served as President-elect in 2021. She is the Vice-President of SIS (Sweden) since 2018 and has focused on increasing engagement of the real estate and construction sector in standardization. Her broad management experience, as executive leader, chairperson and board member covers both the private and public sectors, with an emphasis on building and infrastructure.
She participated in standards development activities for the real estate and building sector as Chair of the Building Information Model (BIM) Alliance and was also the CEO of Tyréns, a consultancy that specialises in developing cities, the built environment and infrastructure solutions. Under her leadership, Tyréns evolved from a domestic to an international operation. She left politics in 1988 when she was Vice Mayor of Stockholm, responsible for city planning, to become the CEO of Brommastaden AB, a real estate company redeveloping parts of the Bromma Airport. During her career Ms Francke served on many boards such as those of Skanska, Swedbank, Hexagon, Vasakronan and Knightec, Södersjukhuset (the South Hospital) in Stockholm and the City of Stockholm Theatre.
She has been involved in research and education, as a member of the board of the Stockholm University, the board for Building Research Council and was one of the creators of the Swedish Centre for Innovation and Quality in the Built Environment. She chaired the government’s research program for sustainable cities and communities, and is a member of the Volvo Research and Education Foundations, VREF. She also chairs the Swedish Green Building Council
Ms. Francke was educated at the University of Stockholm and is a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering and Sciences.
Sung Hwan Cho
ISO President-elect - Republic of Korea
Sung Hwan Cho has been elected ISO President for a two-year term starting from 1 January 2024 and serves as President-elect in 2023. Dr. Cho brings 30 years of experience from the automotive industry as top executive and research engineer. He is the incumbent President and CEO of Hyundai Mobis, the 6th largest auto parts supplier of the world.
Prior to taking up his role as President and CEO of Hyundai Mobis, he served as Executive Vice President of R&D Planning and Coordination and President of Hyundai America Technical Center with Hyundai Motor Company. He also was the CEO of Hyundai Autron, an automotive semiconductor and software affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group.
Dr. Cho has accumulated extensive expertise in technology and related standards through his previous roles as engineering manager. He also serves as Chairman of the Korea Automated Vehicle Standardization Forum and is a Council Board member in the Korean Standards Committee. He has been an elected member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering of Korea.
Dr. Cho holds a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, CA, USA and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Christoph Winterhalter
ISO Vice-President (policy) - Germany
Christoph Winterhalter has been appointed ISO Vice-President (policy) for the 2022-2023 term. In this position he leads, amongst other governance groups, the Council Standing Committee on Strategy and Policy. Before taking up this role in ISO, he served as ISO Council member from 2018 to 2021.
At the regional level, he was elected member of the CEN Administration Board in 2017 and was also CEN-Vice President Policy, including strategy development, from 2018 until 2021.
In July 2016 Mr Winterhalter joined DIN, the ISO member in Germany, as Chairman of the Executive Board driving customer orientation and digital transformation within the standardization system by encouraging all internal and external stakeholders to be open-minded and open for change in order to shape the future with standardization.
Prior to joining DIN, he spent more than 20 years in industry working for the ABB group. He initially worked in various engineering, R&D and product management functions in Germany, Norway and the USA before he was appointed as responsible business unit manager for ABB’s robot automation and robotics products business in Germany. In 2010, he changed to ABB Corporate Research as director of the German Research Center where he was later promoted head of ABB’s global Machinery Controls and Automation Business end of 2013.
Mr Winterhalter holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Javier García
ISO Vice-President (technical management) - Spain
Javier García has been appointed ISO Vice-President (technical management) for the 2023-2024 term. Prior to taking up this role in ISO, he served as Vice-President elect (technical management) in 2022.
Mr García brings more than 20 years of experience in standardization work and has held various positions of responsibility in international, regional and national standardization organizations.
During his years as an ISO Council member from 2018-2021, he had the privilege and opportunity to contribute to the design and planning of the implementation of ISO Strategy 2030, allowing him to fully understand its objectives in the existing global context.
He is also a member of the Administrative Board of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). From 2018 to 2020, he was Vice-president Technical of the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, CENELEC, and he served as member in the Standardization Management Board of the International Electrotechnical Commission from 2012-2017.
As Director General of UNE (Spain), he has led the transformation of the Spanish standardization activities looking to increase the profile of standardization in political, business, and societal agendas as well as to develop innovative mechanisms to facilitate participation in the development and further implementation of standards through products and services that address the needs of those that benefit from their implementation.
Mr García holds a degree in chemical engineering from the Complutense University in Madrid, a Master's Degree in Innovation Management and a postgraduate degree in Business Administration and Marketing Management.
Osvaldo Petroni
ISO Vice-President (finance) - Argentina
Osvaldo Petroni has been appointed ISO Vice-President (finance) for the 2023-2024 term. As Director-Standardization and International Relations, he is the executive head of all IRAM standardization activities since 2012 and, since 2015, also responsible for corporate international relations.
Mr. Petroni has served as ISO Council member from 2018 to 2021 and was an active member of CSC/FIN and CSC/NOM during this term. At the regional level, he has served as Treasurer of the Pan-American Standards Commission (COPANT) from 2010 to 2021, when he was appointed as its President.
Throughout his more than 35 year career working for IRAM in standardization and conformity assessment activities at the national, regional and international levels, he has gained broad experience leading teams and national delegations, managing projects, advising regulators, implementing standardization and certification agreements between IRAM and other organizations, and assessing technical competence of testing laboratories and product certification bodies. He has also acquired, after serving in different governing bodies, financial skills including budget forecasting, financial planning and execution, and auditing of expenditures.
Mr. Petroni graduated as Electrical Engineer in 1985 at the Engineering School of the National University of Buenos Aires, where he is currently teaching as a professor in its Energy Department
Jean-François de Saussure
ISO Treasurer - Switzerland
Jean-François de Saussure has been appointed as ISO Treasurer for the 2023-2024 term. He is a senior executive with more than 30 years of professional experience in international environments. He has held several management positions in Switzerland and abroad.
In 2021, Mr de Saussure became an independent board member, and he also supports several foundations and institutions in the social and cultural fields. He acts as a consultant in the fields of governance, strategy, organization and business development for companies, institutions and start-ups, covering new technologies, health, food and sustainability.
He was CEO of the consumer products manufacturing company Caran d'Ache from 2013 to 2021. Prior to that, he managed subsidiaries in the service industry at SGS from 1990 to 2001, and in the security technology sector at SICPA Security Solutions between 2002 and 2012.
Mr de Saussure holds a Master's degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Business Coach certificate from the Ecole Internationale de Coaching & Leadership in Lyon, France. He recently completed an education program for board members of Swiss companies at the Swiss Board School.
Sergio Mujica
ISO Secretary-General
Sergio Mujica started out as ISO Secretary-General in 2017. ISO is a leading international organization in standardization with a membership of about 165 national standards bodies. ISO standards support global trade, drive inclusive and equitable economic growth, advance innovation and promote health and safety to achieve a sustainable future. Under Sergio’s leadership, ISO approved a new Strategy 2030, which is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a vision of “making lives easier, safer and better”.
Combining his experience as Deputy Secretary-General at the World Customs Organization in Brussels from 2010 to 2017 and several leadership positions in the government of Chile, Sergio has unique global perspectives of international trade and sustainability. He is a tireless advocate for International Standards as ways of reducing barriers and fully realizing the role of international trade in growing economies.
Sergio is fully committed to integrity, transparency and the highest ethics across every part of ISO, as well as to gender equality. As an International Gender Champion, he is a member of a leadership network that brings together female and male decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.
Sergio obtained his law degree at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and completed his master’s in international law at the American University in Washington D.C. (USA).
In 2021, the ISO Council reappointed Sergio as Secretary-General for a second five-year term (until July 2027).
