G Kirk Raab

09/27/1935 - 01/21/2021

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart.

? Ecclesiastes

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G. Kirk Raab lived his life with gusto, from his work as a leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, to supporting the arts and higher education, to fishing on Nantucket Island, to cooking breakfast for his kids, of whom he was very proud. He died on January 21, 2021, in Palm Springs, California.

Born in New York City, Kirk lived his early life on Long Island. He studied at Colgate University from 1952-1954, then served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army in Germany during the Korean War from 1954- 1956, and returned to Colgate a few years later in 1956. Kirk paid for his education with earnings from a deal he and his dear friend, Tommie Treadwell, made with the owner of the New York Times and Herald Tribune campus franchise - a deal that allowed them to deliver newspapers throughout the Colgate campus and around Hamilton, New York. It was not the last time Kirk would architect and execute groundbreaking business deals.

Kirk completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in Fine Arts and Political Science in 1959. Kirk’s love for the school is why he joined the Board of Trustees and established the Raab Family Chair with a generous donation that helped to build the Colgate president’s residence.

After graduating from Colgate, Kirk worked in sales with Pfizer, Inc., a first job that led to a lifetime career in the biopharmaceutical industry. He worked with A.H. Robbins in Mexico, served as Vice President, Latin America, for the Beecham Group; and for Abbott Laboratories served as Vice President, Latin America, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Director. True to his passion for entrepreneurism, he oversaw Abbott’s equity investment in Amgen, Inc., and served on the Amgen Board of Directors from 1981-1985, when he joined Genentech as President, Chief Operating Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors. He served Genentech as CEO from 1990-1995.

“The years when Kirk Raab was President and CEO, he took Genentech from Dog House to Penthouse,” according to Fortune Magazine. During his tenure, Genentech built new facilities at its campus in South San Francisco and at and at a new production site in Vacaville. The company moved onto the New York Stock Exchange, pursued innovative financing, and entered into two pioneering, if controversial, alliances with Roche. Genentech underwent a cultural shift in its research organization, so its basic science increasingly put new candidates into its clinical pipeline. Genentech brought blockbuster new drugs to market, such as tissue plasminogen Activator (tPA), and human growth hormone (HGH) that continue to contribute to the lives of so many. Under Kirk’s leadership, Genentech sharpened its focus and grew into a firm with substance and a future, according to the University of California Berkeley Bancroft Library.

When Kirk left Genentech, he subsequently served more than 20 biotechnology companies, many as Chairman, including Shaman (later called Nappo), Follica, TriAct, BiPar, nCoup, Connetics, Oxford Glycosciences ( a UK firm), and Medgenics in Israael.

Kirk’s deep devotion to the biopharmaceutical industry also propelled him to help launch two of the industry’s key political action groups: He was elected to a two-year term as Inaugural Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biotechnology Industry Organization and served as the founding Chairman of the California Healthcare Institute (now the California Life Science Association). From 1990 -1995, he served as a director of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Kirk’s gusto for life didn’t stop with the biopharmaceutical industry. He was a Renaissance Man with a love for fishing, gardening, reading, cooking, doodling, the fine arts, higher education, and his corgis. “He loved life,” said Kirk’s wife Maryann Raab. And he gave back to life, serving as Publisher of the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce Review; Member of the Board of Trustees, Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Botanical Gardens; Director of the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation; Trustee of the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Symphony, Golden Gate Planned Parenthood, San Francisco Public Radio and Television (KQED); and at Oxford University he was a member of the Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors and Honorary Fellow at Exeter College.

Kirk is survived by his wife Maryann and his children: Kristina Strand, Alyson Bailey, Mike Raab, Dean Raab, Julia Raab; Andrea Leggett, and a host of grandchildren. Maryann Raab: “He was a big, strong presence wherever he was. Thoughtful, generous, with an untiring intellect. He would always say ‘I have a wonderful life.’ And he did.”

To share a memory of Kirk or send a condolence to his family, email Maryann Raab: maraab@me.com.

A memorial service will be announced later this year when COVID-19 (hopefully) subsides.

Donations in Kirk’s memory can be made to the Colgate University Scholarship Fund or the San Francisco Symphony.