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Alumni Profiles

• Margaret McGlynn
• John Schiumo
• Sandra Donaldson
• Daniel Sucato

Margaret McGlynn

Pharmaceutics executive mixes marketing, medical savvy to help create breakthroughs

Story by Pat Pollock : Photo by Peter Lien

The ball is in Margaret (Hempling) McGlynn’s court now.

Elevated to president of the vaccine division at Merck & Co., Inc. last September, McGlynn, MBA ’83 & BS ’82, is a member of the company’s senior management team, responsible for formulating global business strategies and policies, and introducing four new vaccines in coming months.

It’s a big court, but McGlynn knows how to get things done. “I think of myself as a coach,” she says. “Everyone plays a unique role. I need to assure that we have a compelling strategy and the resources to win.”

McGlynn brings together a diverse team of talented, committed individuals who bring different perspectives to the table; she coaches them, guiding the organization to its fullest potential. She also mentors women and men with raw potential because she has benefited from a mentor’s guidance herself.

A Buffalo native, McGlynn had expected to use her UB degree in pharmacy at her father’s store in south Buffalo, Hempling’s Pharmacy. But in her fourth year, she added a second major in business with a concentration in marketing that changed everything. Summer internships at Merck led to a job as a professional representative. As she climbed the career ladder, McGlynn’s marketing savvy and pharmaceutical expertise provided the medical and business context to better understand the medicines and the patients who use them.

In more than 22 years with the company, McGlynn has amassed a wide range of know-how. Early career sales and marketing assignments were followed by roles in other business areas, including managed care, pharmacy benefit management, global marketing, the U.S. hospital and specialty business, and now—global vaccine management.

She was also instrumental in expanding access to company products through improvements to the Merck Patient Assistance Program, which provides medicines for free to those who can’t afford them, and by creating a new discount card program for uninsured patients.

The breakthrough vaccines are ready to launch. “We’ll be introducing vaccines that can dramatically impact people’s lives,” McGlynn says. “We hope to prevent many of the 500,000 deaths of infants caused by rotavirus every year, and the 300,000 deaths from cervical cancer. That’s what motivates me and gives me tremendous satisfaction in my role.”

Related Reading: Full-length story on Margaret McGlynn