Sir

Dennis Gillings

CBE
Gillings in 2012
Born
Dennis Barry Gillings

(1944-04-25) 25 April 1944 (age 79)[1]
London, England, UK
NationalityBritish
American
Alma materUniversity of Exeter
Occupation(s)Statistician and entrepreneur
Known forFounder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational
Spouse(s)Joan Gillings (m. 1978-2010; divorced)
Mireille Gingras (m. 2012)

Sir Dennis Barry Gillings CBE (born 25 April 1944) is an American-based British billionaire statistician and entrepreneur, the founder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational, a clinical research company, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

Early life

Gillings was born on 25 April 1944 in London, the son of a fishmonger.[2] He earned a BSc degree in 1966 and a PhD in 1972, both in mathematics, from the University of Exeter. He also earned the equivalent of a master's degree in mathematical statistics from the University of Cambridge.[3][4]

Career

He returned to the University of Exeter, where he taught while earning his doctorate in mathematics. In 1971, Gillings accepted a position to teach biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[5]

Gillings is the founder and former chairman of Quintiles, a contract research organization.[6] In 1994, he took Quintiles public through an IPO.[6] Quintiles is the "largest global provider of clinical trials and commercial marketing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry".[5] In December 2015, Gillings retired as executive chairman of Quintiles, but remains a director.[6]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2019 his net worth was estimated at £1.199 billion.[7]

In 1998, he endowed the Dennis Gillings Professor of Health Management at the University of Cambridge.[8]

Honours

In 2001, he received an Honorary DSc degree from the University of Exeter.[4] Gillings was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004 for services to the pharmaceutical industry and was knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to the advancement of dementia and life sciences research.[9]

Personal life

In 2010, Gillings filed for divorce from his first wife, Joan Gillings (1946-2021), shortly before their 32nd wedding anniversary.[10]

In 2012, he married Mireille Gingras in Hawaii.[11]

References

  1. ^ Biography, bizjournals.com. Accessed 11 December 2022.
  2. ^ Biography, bizjournals.com. Accessed 11 December 2022.
  3. ^ "The Dennis and Mireille Gillings Foundation donates £1 million for cutting-edge medical research". University of Exeter. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Dr Dennis Gillings CBE - Honorary graduates". University of Exeter. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Dennis Gillings, CBE, PhD". GHO Capital. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Founder Dennis Gillings to Retire as Quintiles Executive Chairman at Close of 2015". QuintilesIMS. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Sunday Times Rich List 2019: Profiles 101-148". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Dennis Gillings Professorship of Health Management". Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  9. ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N2.
  10. ^ "December". Find a Family Law & Divorce Lawyer. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Gillings remarries; new bride heads California pharma". Triangle Business Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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