• by Teresa Buyikian , February 14, 2025

The largest chicken chain in the U.S. has a new president.

Today KFC announce it has promoted Catherine Tan-Gillespie to the position of president, effective on April 1. She currently serves as CMO and chief development officer for KFC U.S.

Tan-Gillespie replaces Tarun Lal, who will retire this April after more than 30 years at the Louisville, KY-based fast food chicken giant.

As president,  Tan-Gillespie will report to Scott Mezvinsky, KFC division CFO.

“Catherine is a well-respected, transformational leader with steep experience across operations, development and marketing as well as a track record for brand building and delivering high impact results,” said Mezvinsky in the announcement. “She is passionate about the brand and an ideal choice to lead the KFC U.S. business.”

Tan-Gillespie has spent nearly ten years at KFC after joining in 2015 as the CMO for the South Pacific region. She also worked as president and general manager of KFC Canada during her tenue at the company.

Earlier in her career, Tan-Gillespie held marketing, strategy and management positions at  Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.