John C. Lechleiter: Eli Lilly and Company CEO

John C. Lechleiter was born to John and Jeanne Lechleiter on August 17, 1952, in Louisville, Kentucky and is the eldest of nine children.  In 1974, John first took part in laboratory research in a summer research program at the University of Minnesota. 

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) in 1975. John was awarded a National Science Foundation fellow and studied Organic Chemistry at Harvard University. He obtained his Master’s degree and PhD in 1980.

In 1979 he joined Lilly as a senior organic chemist in process research and development and in 1982 became head of that department.  John began serving as director of pharmaceutical product development for the Lilly Research Centre Limited in Windlesham, England in 1984. He later held positions in project management, regulatory affairs, product development, and pharma operation. John was appointed president and chief operating officer and joined the board of directors in 2005.

Since April 1, 2008, John has served as president and chief executive officer at Eli Lilly and Company. He was elected chairman of the board of directors in January 1, 2009. 

John is a member of the American Chemical Society and Business Roundtable. He serves on the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), as chairman of the US-Japan Business Council and of United Way Worldwide, and on the boards of the Life Science Foundation and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. John also serves on the boards of Nike, Inc. and Ford Motor Company.

He has received Honorary Doctorates from Marian University in 2006, the University of Indianapolis in 2012, and the National University of Ireland also in 2012.  John was bestowed the inaugural Global Health Partner Award from Project HOPE in 2012. He was named in 2014, the August M. Watanabe Life Science Champion of the Year for his work in supporting the development of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute. 

Working Her Way To The Top

Deirdre Connelly was born San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1960 to an Irish-American father and a Puerto Rican mother. She spent the first 18 years of her life in San Juan before she headed for mainland U.S.A. to study and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and marketing from Lycoming College in Pennsylvania in 1983.

That same year Deirdre joined Lilly as a sales representative and started her upward trajectory in the pharmaceutical corporate world. She moved to San Juan a year later in 1984 as a marketing associate. Deirdre then progressed through higher positions in the sales and marketing area. In 1995, she became general manager for Eli Lilly Puerto Rico, SA.

More promotions followed then in 2005 Deirdre became the President of US operations. This was a high point in her career but it was just the beginning of a new chapter. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was interested in her and she joined the company in February 2009 as President, North America Pharmaceuticals.  This was a huge responsibility given that GSK is a British multinational company. She is basically the right-hand person in the U.S. to GSK’s CEO.

While Deirdre is the first woman to hold the position she does not feel any discomfort and believes there will even be more diversity (including nationality) at GSK given its own diverse customers. 

Recently GSK bought Human Genome Sciences for $3.6 billion. Using human genome data to help produce curing drugs has always been a challenging yet potentially rewarding combination. Deirdre has been appointed as president and CEO to lead this company.