American businessman and industrialist, nicknamed “Joe,” who served as president (1948-1953) and chairman of the board (1953–1966) of Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical firm his grandfather, Colonel Eli Lilly, founded in Indianapolis in 1876. Lilly, the younger son and namesake of Josiah K. Lilly Sr., graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Pharmacy in 1914 where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity. He served in the U.S. Army in France during World War I. At Eli Lilly and Company, where his primary focus was marketing and human resources, he served as vice president of marketing, executive vice president of the company, and president of Eli Lilly International Corporation, before succeeded his older brother, Eli Jr., as company president in 1948 and as chairman of the board in 1953.
During Lilly’s five decades with the firm, it grew into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana. Lilly helped improve the company’s business processes to increase its efficiency, laid the groundwork for its personnel guidelines, and formed its sales research department. He was the last Lilly family member to serve as company president. Lilly was also a philanthropist, as well as a collector. In 1937 Joe, his brother, and their father, founded the Lilly Endowment, which remains as one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. Lilly was also known for his significant collection of rare books and manuscripts, which he donated to Indiana University to form the core collection of the Lilly Library, located on the IU campus in Bloomington, Indiana. Oldfields, Lilly’s estate home and grounds in Indianapolis, are part of the present-day Newfields. The Smithsonian Institution acquired Lilly’s gold coin collection. Cape Cod’s Heritage Museums and Gardens was established in his honor in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and holds some of Lilly’s other collections.
Joe Lilly married Ruth Marie Brinkmeyer of Indianapolis on 15 October 1914. The couple had two children, Ruth (1915–2009) and Josiah (Joe) III (1916–1995). Lilly died on 5 May 1966 at age 72 at Oldfields, his home in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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