Edward W. Bullock, vice president, diversity & inclusion for L’Oréal USA, has announced his retirement effective December 31, 2011.

A 27-year L’Oréal USA veteran and a member of the L’Oréal USA Executive Committee, Bullock spent the last decade building the company’s first office of Diversity & Inclusion. His work has focused on workforce, workplace, and marketplace diversity. He is also responsible for introducing diversity and inclusion training programs throughout the company on a global basis, increasing L’Oreal’s diverse talent pool, creating a robust minority supplier council and building upon supplier diversity, and playing a pivotal role in L’Oreal’s philanthropic endeavors. Bullock also regularly interacts with L’Oréal USA brands on multicultural advertising. His office compiles, analyzes and distributes a State of Diversity Report quarterly and provides recommendations to senior management for improvement.

“Ed has done an outstanding job in ensuring that diversity is an integral part of L’Oréal’s culture,” said Frédéric Rozé, president and CEO of L’Oréal USA. “His counsel and insight are greatly valued by all of us, and we will continue his work with the same strong commitment that he brought to the job every day.”

Prior to his role in Diversity, Bullock was assistant vice president of human resources for Corporate Operations North America (CONA), L’Oréal USA’s manufacturing and distribution arm. In this position, he had oversight for CONA’s talent recruitment and career development team. Throughout his career at L’Oréal USA, Bullock’s responsibilities included employee relations, labor relations, career development and recruitment as well as college and community relations, while also supporting the company’s Research & Innovation and Finance divisions.

During Bullock’s tenure as vice president of Diversity &Inclusion, L’Oréal USA has been the recipient of several awards including, most recently, the American Conference on Diversity Humanitarian Award, the Diversity Best Practices Global Award, the World Diversity Leadership Council’s Corporate Diversity Innovation Award, the New York Urban League Champions of Diversity Award and the Diversity in Advertising Leadership Award.

Bullock has also received several awards including the National Council for Community and Justice Humanitarian Award, The Distinguished Alumni Award from Norfolk State University, the NAACP and Urban League Service Awards, as well as the American Association for Affirmative Action Corporate Award. He was selected as one of the “Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America” by Black Professionals Magazine and, in 2011, was named one of the top executives in Diversity by Black Enterprise Magazine. He is a member of The American Conference on Diversity, CAUSE NY, Past President of the Board of The Young Scholars’ Institute of Trenton New Jersey, former Vice President of the Newgrange Board of Trustees, a member of the Diversity Best Practices Advisory Council, the American Institute for Managing Diversity Advisory Council, the Executive Leadership Council and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Bullock has also written and been featured in several magazines including The Black Collegian, Upscale, the Wall Street Journal and the Network Journal.

As previously announced, Angela Guy, formerly senior vice president & general manager of L’Oréal USA’s SoftSheen-Carson Division will succeed Bullock as head of Diversity & Inclusion for L’Oréal USA.