Pindaros Roy Vagelos (born October 8, 1929, in Westfield, New Jersey), better known as P. Roy Vagelos or Roy Vagelos, is an American physician and business executive, who was president and chief executive officer (1985) and chairman (1986) of the American pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside the U.S.). Since 1995, Vagelos has served as chairman of the board of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He was founding chair of the Prix Galien USA awards committee (from 2007 to 2017) and was the first recipient of the Galien Foundation's Pro Bono Humanum Award, which in 2018 was renamed in his honor to the Roy Vagelos Pro Bono Humanum Award for Global Health Equity. In addition to his business accomplishments, Vagelos is the author of more than 100 scientific papers. He is also on the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and has funded three of the university's elite undergraduate programs: The Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences (MLS), The Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management (LSM) and The Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER). Biography Vagelos grew up during the Depression as a son of Greek immigrants. He attended Rahway High School in his hometown of Rahway, New Jersey. After winning a partial scholarship, he left his family's small restaurant in Rahway, to become a doctor. He majored in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1950. Vagelos later earned an M.D. from Columbia University in 1954. Vagelos deferred military service while in medical school, but he was obligated to serve a two-year stint as an Army doctor. As a Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons trained physician, Vagelos obtained a two-year assignment as a scientist at the National Institutes of Health (1956–1966). For Vagelos, it was a fateful turning point. He was associated with Massachusetts General Hospital, Washington University and the Washington University School of Medicine (1966–1975) before joining Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories in Rahway. He was promoted to CEO and Chairman in 1985 and 1986, respectively, succeeding John J. Horan. He retired from Merck in 1994. The author of more than 100 scientific papers, Vagelos has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. In 1995, Vagelos received the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society and was inducted into the Junior Achievement