The Managers' Association of Slovenia is awarding the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Management to Tone Strnad, the founder and long-time director of Medis, and the current director of Medis Group and President of the Board of Directors at Medis. He will receive the award at the January Gathering.

Tone Strnad is a leader with a rare combination of vision, empathy, and determination. His life's work transcends business success—it is based on the understanding that responsibility to people, culture, and nature is the essence of all leadership. As the founder of Medis, he built an international company from scratch and set a clear benchmark for success: growth is only sustainable if it brings well-being to patients, employees, and the wider community. Today, as President of the Board of Directors, he remains focused on responsible, sustainable, and socially committed leadership.

Tone Strnad, holding a Master's degree in Pharmacy, began his career in 1980 at Lekarna Ljubljana, and a year later joined Lek, where he initially worked on drug registrations and preparing materials for Africa and the Middle East. He later managed sales for Yugoslavia and the marketing of major drug groups. He subsequently became the Head of Sales for Lek in the Soviet Union and Assistant Director of Foreign Trade.

While working, he enrolled in a master's program, then left Lek in 1989 and opened a herbal pharmacy. That same year, he founded Medis, which quickly built a network for the registration, import, export, and marketing of medicines. Medis became the first modern Slovenian company to market and register medicines in the Central and Eastern European region as a licensing partner. Today, they operate in 19 countries—from Albania, through Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to the Baltics—and employ over 400 experts. Strnad's leadership has given patients in the region access to over 200 innovative medicines that often do not reach smaller countries.

Tone Strnad has always viewed business success as an obligation to the community. His work is an intertwining of the economy, culture, humanitarianism, and environmental support. He established a standard where responsibility to patients, employees, and society is an inseparable part of successful leadership. Through his work, he has decisively influenced the development of Slovenian and regional pharmacy, increased the accessibility of innovative medicines, strengthened culture, humanitarianism, and sustainability in business, and created an international company that remains anchored in Slovenia. He has proven that it is possible to build global success while remaining committed to the well-being of people, the community, and nature. His life's work is an exceptional contribution to Slovenian society and sustainable development.

Succession in a Family Business

Medis is an exemplary model for transferring leadership to a new generation in family businesses. A recent survey showed that as many as 67% of business owners over the age of 65 do not have a succession plan in place, while family businesses predominate in Slovenia (accounting for about 76%). At Medis, the transfer of leadership to the new generation is the result of a carefully prepared succession plan. For the past two years, the company has been led by CEO Maja Strnad Cestar, Strnad’s eldest daughter.

Science, Healthcare, and Pharmacy Development

The International Medis Awards for Medical Research (IMA) is one of the largest non-commercial projects by Medis and a personal vision of Tone Strnad. For eleven years, the award has been strengthening clinical research and connecting doctors and pharmacists from several Central and Eastern European countries. An international jury evaluates the scientific quality, clinical applicability, and demonstrable impact of the research. IMA is one of the few regional platforms that systematically supports professional development and enhances the reputation of clinical practice researchers.

Tone Strnad was the initiator of the founding of the Association of Representatives of the Pharmaceutical Industry (and its president since 1994), head of the Wholesale Medicine Traders Section at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, and an active member of the Slovenian Pharmaceutical Society. He participated in drafting the Medicinal Products Act and advocated for quality, traceability, and safety throughout the supply chain. He has been active in the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce since 2012, and has served as President of its Supervisory Board since 2020.

Environment and Sustainability

Tone Strnad is among the pioneers of sustainable thinking in the Slovenian economy. Under his leadership, Medis developed a comprehensive approach to the environment: recycling, reducing energy consumption, eliminating plastics, and installing a green roof and a solar power plant at the company's headquarters. They have set up areas for birds and bees, planted honey-yielding plants, and established nesting grounds on the warehouse roof—a project that bears his personal touch. The production of their own medicines is based on sustainably grown plants without pesticides. In 2023, Medis received the EcoVadis Bronze Medal.

Cultural Patronage and Art

Culture holds a special place in his life—from his youth activities in the France Marolt Academic Folklore Group to later becoming its president and honorary member. For his lifelong support of amateur culture, he was the first person in history to receive the Ravnihar Plaque (2018). Under Strnad's leadership, Medis has become one of the largest corporate cultural patrons in Slovenia. They support institutions such as the Ljubljana City Theatre (MGL), Ljubljana Puppet Theatre (LGL), Slovenian Youth Theatre, RTV Slovenia Big Band, numerous jazz musicians, as well as choirs and folklore groups.

Humanitarianism and Sports

Humanitarianism is a central guiding principle of Strnad's life's work. Medis collaborates with the Slovenian Red Cross, Red Noses, the Association of Friends of Youth (ZPM), Europa Donna, nursing homes, and supports volunteer fire departments. In the field of sports, they have supported Dejan Zavec, Anamarija Lampič, and many others, and founded the Medis sports section, which brings together numerous employees.

Awards, Recognitions, and Functions

Tone Strnad is/has:

• A member of the Pharmaceutical Society;

• Received the Minařik Recognition in 2002 for his contribution to the development of Slovenian pharmacy and for his diligent work;

• The initiator and one of the founding members of the Association of Representatives of the Pharmaceutical Industry;

• Initiated the establishment of the Wholesale Medicine Traders Section at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS);

• In 2018, the first recipient of the Ravnihar Plaque, an award given by the Association of Cultural Societies of Slovenia for selfless and consistent moral and material support of amateur culture, and for helping establish and expand it at all levels of social life in the state and local community;

• Received the highest Slovenian award for pharmacists in 2020, the Minařik Medal, awarded by the Slovenian Pharmaceutical Society for a significant contribution to Slovenian pharmacy;

• Been the President of the Supervisory Board in the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce since 2020.

About the Lifetime Achievement Award

The Managers' Association of Slovenia awards the Lifetime Achievement Award in Management to professional colleagues who have made history in Slovenian management through their achievements and influence. The committee that proposed the award recipient consists of Aleksander Zalaznik (President), Tomaž Berločnik, Boštjan Gorjup, Petra Juvančič, Tjaša Kolenc Filipčič, Medeja Lončar, Aleša Mižigoj, Marko Lukić, and Sabina Sobočan.