William C. Steere Jr. (born June 17, 1936) is a former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

. He is also a member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. While Steere was CEO of Pfizer, the company acquired Warner-Lambert and brought to market

blockbuster drug Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

s including

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

Zoloft Sertraline, sold under the brand name Zoloft among others, is an antidepressant medication of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class used to treat major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disord ...

, and

Zithromax Azithromycin, sold under the brand names Zithromax (in oral form) and Azasite (as an eye drop), is an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of several bacterial infections. This includes middle ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, ...

. His decision to triple research expenditures in 8 years, to $2.2 billion, was cited as a reason for the prosperity of Pfizer during his tenure, a period in which sales of the company doubled.

Early life and education

Steere was born in 1936 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. Steere's father, William C. Steere, was an American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

known as an expert on

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

s. In 1959, Steere graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with a B.S. in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Career

Upon graduation in 1959, Steere began a career at

as a medical service representative. He became Director of Marketing for Pfizer

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

in 1969. In 1972, he became Vice President-General Manager of Roerig, a division of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. He became vice president of Pfizer Laboratories in 1980, Corporate Vice President of Pfizer in 1983, President of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 1986, President of Pfizer in 1990 and

from 1991 to 2000. In 2011, he retired from the board of directors of the company.

Board memberships

Between 1997 and 2007, Steere was a member of the board of directors of

Dow Jones & Company Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (also known simply as Dow Jones) is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp, and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Barron's'', '' MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'' ...

. From 1999 to 2010, he was a member of the board of directors of

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

. Steere was a member of the executive committee of the

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America 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 ...

; a member of the board of overseers of the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...

and of

The Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major U.S. companies. Unlike the United States Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, B ...

; and a director of the

Council on Competitiveness The Council on Competitiveness is an American non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The Council’s goal is to increase the United States' economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. The Council also works to bring high-value ...

, the

New York University Medical Center NYU Langone Health is an integrated academic health system located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New Y ...

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

The Business Council The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

, and the

. He served as a class B director of the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

, having been elected for a three-year term ending December 31, 1995.

Personal life

Steere married Lynda Gay Powers on January 29, 1957. They have 3 sons. While working at Pfizer, Steere resided in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

. Steere enjoys

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

and

spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

and lives in

Bonita Springs, Florida Bonita Springs is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 53,644 at the 2020 census, up from 43,914 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, on the state's sou ...

, where he owns a boat and a marina. Steere has made campaign contributions, most of which were to members of the Republican Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steere, William C. 1936 births Living people Pfizer people Stanford University alumni