Daily Journal staff reports
The Franklin College board of trustees recently elected a new member, Robert B. Brown.
He is chief marketing officer for Eli Lilly and Co. and senior vice president of marketing for Lilly’s biomedicines business unit. He is responsible for leading marketing efforts across Lilly’s pharmaceutical business areas, including diabetes, oncology, emerging markets and biomedicines.
Brown joined Lilly in 1985, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University and a master’s in business administration from Indiana University. Since that time he has held a variety of sales and marketing positions.
In 1994, Brown helped establish STC Corp., a generic subsidiary for Lilly, and served as its first president. In 1995, he became general manager for Lilly China, where he oversaw the construction of Lilly’s first manufacturing facility in China and expanded the affiliate’s reach from 12 to 45 cities.
Brown returned to Indianapolis in 1999 as global marketing director for Cialis and Lilly ICOS. In 2003, Brown was promoted to executive director of marketing for the intercontinental region. As the head marketer for Lilly’s international operations, Brown was responsible for the marketing of all Lilly products outside the United States.
Outside Lilly, Brown serves as president of the Park Tudor board of trustees. He also is an honorary citizen of Suzhou, China.
The Franklin College board establishes and reviews educational programs and the college’s annual budget.
In addition, the board authorizes construction of new buildings and renovations of existing facilities, changes in tuition and fees, purchases of land, buildings and major equipment and faculty appointments with tenure.
