Richard B. Sellars

Richard Beverland Sellars (September 9, 1915 – June 25, 2010) was an American business executive who served as chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson as part of 40 years with the healthcare product firm. Sellars played a pivotal role in keeping the company's headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and worked to rebuild that city's downtown area. Born on September 9, 1915, Sellars grew up in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. He attended

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who soug ...

and

Maryville College Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The college is one of the ...

, but did not graduate from either school.Abelson, Reed
"Richard B. Sellars, Former Chief of Johnson & Johnson, Dies at 94"
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 26, 2010. In 1939, Johnson & Johnson hired Sellars as a salesman in its

Ortho Pharmaceutical Ortho Pharmaceutical was initially formed in the United States in 1931 as a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson to market the first prescription spermicidal contraceptive jelly, ''Ortho-Gynol''. History In the 1940s, Ortho introduced the coil-s ...

business unit. He worked his way up and became Ortho's vice president by 1948. He was shifted to J&J's Ethicon Inc. unit and became its president in December 1949, succeeding Philip B. Hofmann. In April 1970, he became president of Johnson & Johnson Worldwide.Bender, Marylin
"Blacks Snubbed in Business; Blacks Hit Job Changes: Business Johnson & Johnson Fills Position"
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'', April 19, 1970. Accessed June 27, 2010. He became Johnson & Johnson's chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1973, becoming the second person from outside the Johnson family to lead the firm. Sellars convinced the firm's board to remain in the urban confines of New Brunswick, rather than move to the suburbs, and worked as part of the

New Brunswick Development Corporation New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit urban real estate development organization created in the mid-1970s to initiate redevelopment projects and to serve as the vehicle for public and private investment in the City ...

to help revitalize the city. He helped bring in

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

to redesign New Brunswick's downtown area. With headquarters in New Brunswick, he felt the firm had an obligation to the city and "the survival of our country depends on the survival of its cities, so we'd all better get involved in cleaning them up." J&J announced that Sellars would step down as CEO as of November 1, 1976, and be replaced by

James E. Burke James E. Burke (February 28, 1925 – September 28, 2012) was an American corporate executive who was the CEO of Johnson & Johnson from 1976 to 1989, a company for which he worked forty years. He was the older brother of the television executiv ...

. After stepping down as CEO, he served on the board's finance committee until 1979. From 1981 to 1996, he served as a trustee of the

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...

, the largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care in the United States. He worked closely with Robert Wood Johnson II, who established the foundation, in shaping its goals and objectives.Staff
"Richard B. Sellars, Former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, Dies at 94"
PR Newswire, June 25, 2010. Accessed June 27, 2010. Sellars died at age 94 at his home in

Osterville, Massachusetts Osterville is one of seven villages within the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. The village of Osterville is located on the south side of Barnstable on Nantucket Sound. Osterville is a residential community that includes marshes, ...

, on June 25, 2010. He was survived by his wife, the former Doris Sophia Johnson (no relation to the company’s founders), and two daughters, two sons, 9 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. He and his wife had lived in

Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey Peapack-Gladstone (also written as Peapack and Gladstone) is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough's population was 2,582,American International College alumni Businesspeople from New Jersey Maryville College alumni People from Osterville, Massachusetts People from Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts 1915 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople