LEWISTON — Mike Bonney, a 1980 Bates College graduate who now chairs the college’s Board of Trustees, has been named one of the six best corporate leaders in America by MarketWatch, a leading financial news source published by Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Bonney is CEO of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., a major pharmaceutical company headquartered in Lexington, Mass., that specializes in antibiotics for so-called superbugs, bacterial strains that have grown resistant to traditional antibiotics.

On Jan. 17, MarketWatch announced the results of its 2011 CEO of the Year award. Its top award went to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. The five finalists were Bonney; Dell Inc. CEO Michael Dell; Whole Foods Market’s co-CEOs John Mackey and Walter Robb; and Electronic Arts’ CEO John Riccitello.

In its profile of Bonney, MarketWatch said that since joining Cubist in 2002, “Bonney has ended up having a tremendous impact.” It cited Bonney for “his leadership in safeguarding Cubist’s primary money maker, for moves that bolstered the company’s product pipeline, and for his open and encouraging management style.”

Bonney has been a member of the Bates board since 2002 and was elected to chair the board in 2010. His grandfather attended Bates and his father, sister, wife and oldest daughter are all Bates graduates. Another daughter is a member of the Class of 2012 and his son is a member of the Class of 2015.

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