Peter M Nicholas

Peter Nicholas, who helped found Boston Scientific in 1979 and led the medtech giant as chief executive from then until 1999, died on May 14, 2022. Pete M. Nicholas, a co-founder of Boston Scientific, has been Chairman of the Board since 1995. He has been a Director since 1979 and served as our Chief Executive Officer from 1979 to March 1999 and as Co-Chairman of the Board from 1979 to 1995. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, he was corporate director of marketing and general manager of the Medical Products Division at Millipore Corporation, a medical device company, and served in various sales, marketing and general management positions at Eli Lilly and Company. He is currently Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Duke University. Mr. Nicholas is a Fellow of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and Vice Chairman of the Trust for that organization. He also serves on several for profit and not-for-profit boards including CEOs for Fundamental Change in Education and the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. After college, Mr. Nicholas served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, resigning his commission as lieutenant in 1966. Mr. Nicholas received a B.A. degree from Duke University, and an M.B.A. degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Nicholas is survived by his wife Ginny—great-granddaughter of Eli Lilly’s founder and namesake—who met Nicholas while they were both undergraduates at Duke University and helped kick-start his career in the healthcare industry at her family’s company. He’s also survived by their three children and seven grandchildren as well as his brother Nick, who served on the board of Boston Scientific for more than 20 years.