Sir Dennis Barry Gillings (born 25 April 1944) is an American-based British

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

statistician and entrepreneur, the founder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational, a clinical research company, headquartered in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

Early life

Gillings was born on 25 April 1944 in London, the son of a fishmonger. He earned a BSc degree in 1966 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1972, both in mathematics, from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He also earned the equivalent of a master's degree in mathematical statistics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Career

He returned to the University of Exeter, where he taught while earning his doctorate in mathematics. In 1971, Gillings accepted a position to teach biostatistics at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. Gillings is the founder and former chairman of Quintiles, a

contract research organization In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provid ...

. In 1994, he took Quintiles public through an IPO. Quintiles is the "largest global provider of clinical trials and commercial marketing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry". In December 2015, Gillings retired as executive chairman of Quintiles, but remains a director. According to The '' Sunday Times Rich List'' in 2019 his net worth was estimated at £1.199 billion. In 1998, he endowed the Dennis Gillings Professor of Health Management at the University of Cambridge.

Honours

In 2001, he received an Honorary

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

degree from the University of Exeter. Gillings was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 2004 for services to the pharmaceutical industry and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to the advancement of dementia and life sciences research.

Personal life

In 2010, Gillings filed for divorce from his first wife, Joan Gillings (1946-2021), shortly before their 32nd wedding anniversary. In 2012, he married Mireille Gingras in Hawaii.

References

1944 births Living people British emigrants to the United States Alumni of the University of Exeter English company founders British statisticians University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty British billionaires Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor {{UK-business-bio-1940s-stub