Raymond V. Gilmartin (born March 6, 1941) is an American former business executive and an adjunct professor of management practice at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Biography

Early life

Raymond Gilmartin was born on March 6, 1941, in Sayville, New York. He received his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in 1963, being the first member of his immediate family to attend college, and an MBA from

in 1968. In the interim between colleges, he worked as an engineer at

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

and met his future wife.

Family life

Gilmartin married Gladys Higham in 1965, and had three children as of 2005. Gilmartin has been a resident of Park Ridge, New Jersey.

Career

After graduation from Harvard, Gilmartin worked as a consultant at

Arthur D. Little Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1886 and formally incorporated in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. ...

for eight years. Gilmartin joined Becton Dickinson (BD) in 1976 as a vice president and rose to hold president, chairman and CEO positions at the company by the time of his departure in 1994. Gilmartin's work at BD has been considered instrumental in supporting the company's transition from a regional to a multinational company. Gilmartin then moved to Merck & Co, Inc., hired as president and CEO in 1994, and adding the role of chairman the same year upon retirement of P. Roy Vagelos. Gilmartin's new position at Merck was a shock to pharmaceutical industry analysts as he was the first CEO ever recruited from outside the company since its founding in 1891, and despite his having managed at BD, Gilmartin was considered a newcomer to the pharmaceutical industry. During his tenure, Gilmartin oversaw Merck's response to two

patent cliff The term patent cliff refers to the phenomenon of patent expiration dates and an abrupt drop in sales that follows for a group of products capturing a high percentage of a market. Usually, these phenomena are noticed when they affect ''blockbuster p ...

s and consistently rejected the prospect of merging the company with a rival and maintained an emphasis on original research as opposed to joining a growing trend of in-licensing late-state drug prospects. Gilmartin's management style was characterized by delegation of day-to-day activities while maintaining a focus on strategic planning and decision making. Gilmartin served at Merck until May 2005, a period which included the Vioxx scandal; thereafter, he remained with Merck in an advisory capacity until April 2006, when his retirement became effective. Late in his tenure at Merck, in 2004, Gilmartin received an LL.D. (honorary) from

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as th ...

of New Jersey. In July 2006, Gilmartin became a professor of management practices at Harvard Business School. Gilmartin has also served as a member of the board of advisors to the dean of Harvard Business School. Gilmartin joined the board of directors of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

in 2001. Other boards that Gilmartin has served on include that of directors at

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

, the National Association of Corporate Directors and the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

, and trustees at the American Enterprise Institute.American Enterprise Institute Board of Trustees
/ref> Gilmartin has also served as a chair of

PhRMA Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA, pronounced ), formerly known as the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, is a trade group representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States. Founded in 195 ...

and president of

IFPMA The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) is a trade association that represents leading innovative pharmaceutical companies at the international level and in official relations with the United Nations. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmartin, Raymond 1941 births Living people American businesspeople Directors of Microsoft Union College (New York) alumni Harvard Business School faculty American Enterprise Institute People from Park Ridge, New Jersey People from Sayville, New York Harvard Business School alumni Merck & Co. people

Biography

Early life

Family life

Career

Further reading

References