Daniel C. Searle (May 6, 1926 – October 30, 2007) was an American business executive and philanthropist.Trevor Jensen
Daniel C. Searle: 1926–2007
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', November 06, 2007Northwestern University biography
/ref>Daniel C. Searle, 81; chief executive of family's drug, research company
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', November 08, 2007Kim Dennis
Daniel C. Searle: 1926–2007
''

Philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

'', Winter 2008In Memoriam
, ''Northwestern Magazine'', Spring 2008 He served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of G. D. Searle & Co from 1970 to 1977, and as its Chairman from 1977 until its merger with Monsanto in 1985. (G.D. Searle is now a subsidiary of

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

). He established the

Searle Freedom Trust The Searle Freedom Trust is a 501(c)(3) grant-making foundation located in the United States. It was established by business executive Daniel C. Searle in 1998. As of 2017, the trust had an endowment of $141 million. Origins Searle considered h ...

to promote free market economics.

Early life

Daniel Searle was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

on May 6, 1926. His paternal great-grandfather was Gideon Daniel Searle, who founded G. D. Searle & Company in 1888. His father was

John Gideon Searle John Gideon Searle (1901–1978) was an American heir, businessman and philanthropist.

, CEO of the family business from 1936 to 1972. He had a sister, Suzanne Dixon and a brother, William L. Searle. He attended boarding school in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and the

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

and in 1950 graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he played

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

. In 1952, he received an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Business career

He was appointed president of G. D. Searle & Co in 1966 and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1970. In 1977, Searle recruited

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...

, then recently

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, as president and

, and Searle became chairman of the board of directors. In 1985, G. D. Searle & Co. was sold to Monsanto for US$2.7 billion. The Searle family owned 34% of the company. Additionally, Searle was an investor in the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

and the Chicago Bulls.

Political activity

Searle's ideology was "free enterprise conservative", according to a former G. D. Searle board member and long-time friend. In 1962, Searle helped finance

's successful campaign for

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Illinois's 13th congressional district The 13th congressional district of Illinois is currently represented by Democrat Nikki Budzinski. Redistricting 2020 redistricting Following the 2020 census and the subsequent redistricting cycle, the 13th congressional district was signific ...

. Searle was chairman of the finance committee of Rumsfeld's campaign. G. D. Searle named Rumsfeld as its CEO in 1977, and he remained in that position until 1985.

Philanthropy

Searle was a trustee of the

Hudson Institute The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...

. He also sat on the Board of Trustees of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. Searle was an early member of the board of directors of

Donors Trust Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...

, a

donor-advised fund In the United States, a donor-advised fund (commonly called a DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. To participate in a don ...

. He joined the Board of Trustees of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1966 and became Life Trustee in 2000. He served as an Adviser to the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust and donated grants to the Searle Biomedical Awards at the Feinberg School of Medicine, the Searle Leadership Fund in the Life Sciences, th
Chicago Biomedical Consortium
and the Searle Hall, home of the Northwestern University Health Center. He was a trustee of the John G. Searle Family Trust, which funded the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence and the Searle Center at the

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

Searle Freedom Trust

Searle set up the

to support free market economics. The trust was worth US$100 million in 2007. The trust will be depleted and closed by 2025 after the model of the

John M. Olin Foundation The John M. Olin Foundation was a conservative American grant-making foundation established in 1953 by John M. Olin, president of the Olin Industries chemical and munitions manufacturing businesses. Unlike most other foundations, it was charge ...

, "to ensure that the Foundation will always remain in the hands of people who understand my

earle's Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932. Earle Brothers The company was started in Hull in 1845 by two brothers, Charles and William Earle. The firm was made u ...

intentions and are committed to carrying out the Foundation's mission". Grantees of the Searle Freedom Trust include conservative and libertarian organizations. Searle's son Gideon succeeded his father as chairman of the Trust. Kimberly O. Dennis is the president and

of the Searle Freedom Trust.

Personal life

He was married to Dain Searle. They had two sons, D. Gideon Searle and Michael, and a daughter, Anne Bent. They lived in

Hobe Sound, Florida Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 census, up from 11,521 in 2010. Geography Hobe Sound ...

and maintained his parents's family home in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...

. He was a member of the

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

. In 1996, heirs to concentration camp victims sued him in connection with a Degas painting that had been seized from their family in World War II. This claim resulted in the first settlement concerning Nazi looted art in America

Death and legacy

Searle died of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

on a pheasant hunting trip in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on October 30, 2007. The Searle Freedom Trust continues to endow free-market organizations.

References

External links

*
Searle Freedom Trust – news and investigations
at the Center for Public Integrity {{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, Daniel C. 1926 births 2007 deaths Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois People from Winnetka, Illinois People from Hobe Sound, Florida Deerfield Academy alumni Yale University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Northwestern University trustees American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations American polo players Philanthropists from Illinois 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople United States Navy reservists