John C. Lechleiter

Key takeaways

John C. Lechleiter belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John C. Lechleiter to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John C. Lechleiter from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John C. Lechleiter (born 1952) is an American businessman and chemist. He served as president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company from April 2008 to December 2016.

Early life and education Lechleiter first participated in laboratory research in a summer research program at the University of Minnesota in 1974. Lechleiter received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Xavier University in 1975. He went on to receive a master's degree and a PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University in 1980 after studying on a National Science Foundation Fellowship. His thesis advisor was Dr. Paul A. Wender.

Career

Eli Lilly and Company Lechleiter joined Eli Lilly and Company in 1979 as senior organic chemist. From 1984 to 1986, he served as director of pharmaceutical product development at the Lilly Research Centre Limited in Windlesham, England. In 1986, he returned to the U.S. as manager of research and development projects for Europe. He became Director of development projects management in 1988, Executive Director of pharmaceutical product development in 1991, Vice President of pharmaceutical product development in 1993, and Vice President of regulatory affairs in 1994. Lechleiter became Vice President for development and regulatory affairs in 1996, and Senior Vice President of pharmaceutical products in 1998. In 2001, he was appointed executive vice president for pharmaceutical products and corporate development. In a 2003 e-mail, he discussed the use of the anti-schizophrenia or bipolar disorder drug Zyprexa for "disruptive kids", an off-label use, for which drug manufacturers are not legally permitted to encourage, even if it was not approved by federal regulators because it could lead to diabetes. "The fact we are now talking to child psychs and peds and others about Strattera means that we must seize the opportunity to expand our work with Zyprexa in this same child-adolescent population." In 2004, he became Executive Vice President for pharmaceutical operations. Lechleiter served as Lilly's president and chief operating officer beginning in October 2005. He also joined Lilly's board of directors at that time. Lechleiter was elected as Lilly’s president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective April 1, 2008. Effective January 1, 2009, Lechleiter was appointed as chairman of the company's board of directors, succeeding Sidney Taurel. In 2012, he earned US$15.57 million, according to Forbes. He is credited with successfully guiding the company through a difficult period in which patent protection expired for four of its main products, Gemzar, Zyprexa, Cymbalta and Evista, and for establishing a promising pipeline of possible new drugs. In 2013, he said his advice to others was "...move quickly, but the most important thing is to be patient, resolute, and be guided by the data."

Board and organizational memberships Lechleiter is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Business Roundtable and The Business Council. He is Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. Lechleiter is on the Boards of Directors of Nike, Inc. (from 2009), the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and the Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. He has served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Xavier University, for a three-year term beginning in September 2004, and on the board of the Life Sciences Foundation. He serves as a distinguished advisor to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. In 2014, he became chairman of United Way Worldwide, which Lilly has supported for many years through both corporate giving and volunteerism. Lilly employees are encouraged to participate in the Lilly Global Day of Service, an internationally observed day of charitable work in their communities. Lechleiter began the initiative in 2008, the year that he became CEO. Lechleiter has identified poor K-12 and STEM education as "this country's Achilles' heel", and the Lechleiter family has contributed towards K-12 education via the Catholic Education Foundation of Louisville.

Awards and honors

He has received Honorary Doctorates from Marian University (2006), the University of Indianapolis (2012), and the National University of Ireland (2012). In 2012, he was awarded the inaugural Global Health Partner Award from Project HOPE. In 2014, he was named as the August M. Watanabe Life Sciences Champion of the Year for his work in supporting the development of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute. In 2015, he received the International Citizen of the Year Award from the International Center of Indianapolis.

Personal life Lechleiter and his wife Sarah live in Indianapolis, Indiana, and have three children and several grandchildren.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John C. Lechleiter

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John C. Lechleiter claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John C. Lechleiter before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John C. Lechleiter ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John C. Lechleiter

In research: John C. Lechleiter appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John C. Lechleiter in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John C. Lechleiter is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, American chief executives, American organic chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John C. Lechleiter outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study John C. Lechleiter in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John C. Lechleiter means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John C. Lechleiter out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John C. Lechleiter in simple terms?

John C. Lechleiter (born 1952) is an American businessman and chemist.

Why does John C. Lechleiter matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John C. Lechleiter?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John C. Lechleiter.