ANDOVER, Mass.—Richard L. Gelb, 79, beloved Trustee Emeritus of Phillips Academy and a member of the Class of 1941, died Sunday, April 4, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was the chairman emeritus of Bristol-Myers Squibb, once the second largest drug company in the world.

Born in New York City, Gelb received a B.A. degree from Yale University and an M.B.A. degree with distinction from Harvard Business School. After serving in the Army during World War II, he joined his parents’ company, Clairol. He was president of Clairol when it was acquired by Bristol-Myers in 1959, and in 1967, Gelb became president of Bristol-Myers. He presided over the company’s merger with Squibb in 1989. Business Week called Gelb an “executive to watch” in 1992, and Forbes featured him in an article called “Corporate America’s Most Powerful People.”

Gelb was generous in his commitment to Andover. Over the years, he made many gifts to the academy, culminating in his lead gift of $11 million to Campaign Andover, the largest single contribution in Phillips Academy’s history. The new Gelb Science Center, which opened for classes in January 2004, fulfills a dream of the Andover science faculty to teach in an efficient, state-of-the-art science center that enhances students’ ability to learn science by doing science.

“I was attracted to this project because I know its completion will mean that everyone who goes to Andover will get a better science education, and those who want to enter science as a profession will have a better grounding in it,” Gelb told the Andover Bulletin. “It was an easy decision, because I felt it was right.”

He was generous with his time as well. Having served as a Charter Trustee from 1976-1994, he was honorary vice chair of Campaign Andover and a member of the Executive Committee of the Andover Development Board, the Headmaster Search Committee, the Steering Committee of the Bicentennial Campaign and the Alumni Council.

“Dick Gelb was a man of remarkable dignity, integrity and commitment,” said Head of School Barbara Landis Chase. “There was no one more devoted to Andover or to staying current with school developments, even after his retirement from the board of trustees. I will miss his wisdom and his counsel, and Andover will miss a generous, loyal alumnus.”

A resident of New York’s Upper East Side, he was former director of the New York Life Insurance Company, The New York Times Co., Bessemer Securities Corporation and The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. An active volunteer, he was director emeritus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, former director of the Council on Foreign Relations, former vice chairman of the Board of Overseers and Board of Managers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a member of the board of directors of the Citizens Crime Commission and trustee emeritus of the New York Racing Association. Fascinated by police work, he helped to found the New York City Police Foundation with Mayor John V. Lindsay. With his brother, Bruce, Gelb also ran the Lawrence M. Gelb Foundation, a family philanthropic foundation named for his father that supported education, cultural programs and hospitals.

He is survived by his wife, Phyllis “Rusty” (Nason) Gelb; four children, Lawrence Gelb ’69, Lucy Sisto, Jane Gelb and James Gelb; and six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 8, in New York City.