Daniel C. Searle

Daniel C. Searle (May 6, 1926 – October 30, 2007) was an American business executive and philanthropist. 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). He established the Searle Freedom Trust to promote free market economics.

Early life Daniel Searle was born in Evanston, Illinois on May 6, 1926. He had a sister, Suzanne Dixon and a brother, William L. Searle. He attended boarding school in Arizona and the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. In 1952, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School. 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. He also sat on the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago.

He joined the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University in 1966 and became Life Trustee in 2000.

Personal life He was married to Dain Searle. He was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club.

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. Morley Safer won one of his 12 Emmys for his coverage of the lawsuit against Searle for 60 Minutes. This claim resulted in the first settlement concerning Nazi looted art in America.

Death and legacy Searle died of emphysema on a pheasant hunting trip in Scotland on October 30, 2007. The Searle Freedom Trust continues to endow free-market organizations.