Sidney Taurel, chairman, president and CEO of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, will deliver this year's Hatfield address at Cornell University Thursday, Sept. 20, at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall.

Taurel is the 2001 Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, the highest honor Cornell bestows on outstanding individuals from the corporate sector. His talk is titled "The Future of Aging: Social Consequences of the Biomedical Revolution" and is free and open to the public.

Under Taurel's leadership, the company has invested aggressively in research and development -- $2.02 billion last year, or nearly 20 percent of sales -- in its search for medicines that improve people's lives. The company expects to launch 10 new pharmaceutical products within the next three years, considered a rare feat by pharmaceutical industry experts. Among the products will be medications that: counter sepsis, an overwhelming systemic response to infection; stimulate the formation of new, healthy bone marrow in osteoporosis patients; treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adults; combat diabetes-induced blindness; stop cancer cell replication; and treat erectile dysfunction.

The company currently markets the well-known anti-depressant Prozac, which recently has faced generic competition in the U.S. market. It also makes Zyprexa, the world's leading anti-psychotic drug. The drug was Lilly's top seller last year, with sales of $2.3 billion. In addition, Lilly continues to be the leading producer of products that fight diabetes and is becoming one of the top franchisers of cancer-fighting drugs.

Taurel has helped make the company more global "to tap into talent wherever it comes from," he said. A global executive himself, Taurel was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and speaks four languages -- French, English, Portuguese and Spanish. He has worked all over the world for Eli Lilly and Company, including stints in Brazil, Austria, England and France.

Taurel graduated from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris in 1969 and earned an MBA from Columbia University in 1971, the same year he joined Eli Lilly International Corporation as a marketing associate. He was named general manager of the company's Brazilian affiliate in 1981, became vice president of Lilly's European operations in 1983 and president of Eli Lilly International Corporation in 1986. He was named executive vice president of the pharmaceutical division in 1991, executive vice president of parent firm Eli Lilly and Company and president of its pharmaceutical division in 1993. He rose to president and chief operating officer in 1996 and assumed his current responsibilities in 1998-99.

The Hatfield Fund for Economic Education was established in 1981 by the Continental Group Foundation to honor former Continental chairman Robert S. Hatfield, the first speaker. The fund supports campus visits by distinguished business leaders, who deliver major addresses on economic issues of national importance.

For more information, contact Nicholas Komanecky, director of Cornell University corporate relations, (607) 254-7174.