Sheldon G Gilgore

Dr. Gilgore attended Villanova University and the medical college at Thomas Jefferson University, graduating at 24. He met Irma Swartz through her brother, also a medical student. She would become his wife of 53 years and, as a painter and pianist, introduce him to opera and art. Dr. Gilgore, who was trained in endocrinology, worked at Pfizer for 23 years. From 1971 to 1986 he was president of its largest division, pharmaceuticals. In 1986, Searle, maker of NutraSweet, lured Dr. Gilgore for its top job and a new challenge: revitalizing a company after the reign of Donald H. Rumsfeld, who had led Searle the previous eight years. Monsanto paid $2.7 billion for the trimmed-down Searle, then hired Dr. Gilgore. His office moved from 42nd Street in Manhattan to Skokie, Ill. Five years after Dr. Gilgore retired in 1995, Searle merged with Pharmacia & Upjohn, and three years later Pfizer bought Pharmacia for $60 billion. In later years, he maintained his interest in opera and art. The Gilgores’ son Laurence is conductor of the Connecticut Grand Opera. Another son, Lance, is a lawyer in Washington for the Japanese drug company Daiichi Sankyo. The third, Lloyd, is a psychologist in Doylestown, Pa. Dr. Gilgore is also survived by his wife, five grandchildren and a brother, Dr. Gary S. Gilgore, of Naples, Fla.