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 school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Biography

Early life

Raymond Gilmartin was born on March 6, 1941, in

Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,569 at the time of the 2020 census. History The earli ...

. He received his B.S. in

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

from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

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

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

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 film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

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 Park Ridge is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,883, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 238 (+2.8%) from the 2010 census co ...

Career

After graduation from Harvard, Gilmartin worked as a consultant at Arthur D. Little for eight years. Gilmartin joined

Becton Dickinson Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD; also Becton Dickinson or Becton) is an American multinational medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems, and reagents. BD also provides consulting and analytic ...

(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 ...

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 Rofecoxib is a COX-2-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ( NSAID). It was marketed by Merck & Co. to treat osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, acute pain conditions, migraine, and dysmenorrhea. Rofec ...

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. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(honorary) from

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth, and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education and is a state-designated rese ...

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 corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

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

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

, the

National Association of Corporate Directors The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is an independent, not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) founded in 1977 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. NACD's membership includes more than 1,750 corporate boards as well as several ...

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 The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

.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 an American trade group representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Founded in 1958, PhRMA l ...

and president of IFPMA.

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