Alan Oppenheim - Biography

Alan Oppenheim graduated from Monash University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree with first class honours.

Today, Mr Oppenheim is managing director of Ego Pharmaceuticals, the largest Australian-owned pharmaceutical company specialising in dermatology. His parents, Gerald and Rae, founded Ego in 1953. His father and his dermatologist grandfather migrated to Australia from Nazi Germany six months before World War II broke out.

Mr Oppenheim joined the family business part-time while studying at Monash. With a strong interest in chemistry, he took up a full-time position as scientific director in 1981. He was appointed managing director in 1990.

He was responsible for revolutionising Ego in its early days, computerising the business before personal computers existed. Ego has since expanded to offer 120 different skincare products including its SUNSENSE sunscreen range, QV cleansers and moisturisers, and SOOV antiseptics.

Mr Oppenheim has won several awards during his career. These include the Australian Self Medication Industry Award for Excellence 2005 and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2006 (Retail, Consumer and Industrial Products - Southern Region).

He is a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also an honorary life member of the Australian Society of Cosmetic Chemists.