John J. Horan was born in 1920 in New York and died on January 22, 2011, at the age of 90. In 1940 Mr. Horan was awarded an A.B. degree from Manhattan College, and in 1946 he received his J.D. degree from Columbia University law School. After serving in the navy during World War II, from 1942 to 1946 he worked for the law firm of Nims, Verdi and Martin in New York. In 1952 Horan left Nims and joined the Legal Department of Merck & Co., a producer of pharmaceuticals.
Horan steadily rose through the ranks of the company until he became the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer in 1976; a position he held until 1985. During those years Horan turned Merck into the world’s largest drug company. Mr. Horan played a key role in the support of Merck research which led to the development of a drug that could help prevent and treat a debilitating tropical illness known as “river blindness.” Due to Horan’s push to spend more on research than any other pharmaceutical company, doubling the budget under his tenure, Merck became the world’s leader of US-based prescription medicines.
Horan was also instrumental in fostering a close relationship with the Carter Center, maintaining a long-standing relationship with the organization which has been a model for cooperation between government and business to offer humanitarian aid in developing nations.