• by Amy Corr  @MediaPostOTL, October 27, 2016

Y&R named David Patton as global president, charged with operational leadership across the regions. Patton will join the agency in January 2017, based in London. Patton joins the agency from Grey Group, where he served as president and CEO of Grey EMEA and CEO of Grey UK prior to that.

"I know that his enormous intellect and instincts make him a valued partner to clients and an inspiration to all who work with him," said David Sable, global CEO of Y&R. "He knows how to bring the best out of people and his innovative mindset always anticipates what we need to do to meet the challenges our clients will face in the future. He is focused, fearless and passionate."

In addition, Sable launched a new global Healthcare practice and named Howard Courtemanche as president. Courtemanche joined Y&R several months ago, after serving as CEO of JWT's Health practice.

Lastly, JJ Schmuckler, who has served as director of business development in North America, was promoted to global chief marketing officer, based out of New York. He succeeds Alex Hughes, who has moved to Washington, D.C., to lead Y&R's U.S. Census account. Schmuckler began his career at Wunderman in account management. He moved to Y&R, where he was chief of staff, and then to VML, where he led global integration efforts.