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The 2000 Distinguished Alumni Awards
Prescription for Success
In the years that she has been with Pfizer––she joined the pharmaceutical giant after receiving her M.B.A. from Chicago GSB in 1974––Karen L. Katen has acquired numerous titles. Today she is president of Pfizer U.S. Pharmaceuticals; executive vice president of the global Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group; corporate senior vice president; and a member of the corporate management committee, the governing management body of Pfizer.
But to the public, she is best known as the person who brought the world Viagra.
“It’s been a blessing and a curse, ” Katen said about the male anti-impotence pill. “The pluses of Viagra are that it has the potential to be as revolutionary as the birth control pill. And since men don’t like to go to the doctor, one of the benefits is that Viagra gets them to the doctor.
“The minuses, ” she continued, “are that with the visibility that goes along with Viagra come the jokes. While the jokes are funny, they make light of a very serious issue. ”
Viagra is just one of many breakthrough medicines that Pfizer U.S. Pharmaceuticals has launched under Katen’s leadership. Zyrtec, an allergy medicine; Zoloft, for depression; Celebrex, for arthritis pain; Norvasc, for hypertension; and the leading antibiotic, Zithromax, are also part of the company’s outstanding portfolio, which includes eight $1 billion prescription medicines. And before Pfizer’s recent acquisition of Warner-Lambert, Katen engineered a co-marketing deal with that company to introduce the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, which is now the No. 1 lipid-lowering agent in the United States.
Even with all the accolades, Katen prefers to give credit to her team at Pfizer for developing these drugs, conducting the necessary tests for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and bringing the medications to market.
Katen is equally self-effacing about receiving the GSB’s Distinguished Corporate Alumna Award.
“I’m quite honored by the award, considering that there are so many bright, prosperous people who have come out of Chicago, ” she said. “I really do believe that Pfizer deserves the award as much as I do as an individual. ”
This attitude exemplifies Katen’s leadership style during the 26 years that she’s been with Pfizer. She encourages open communication among all the team members involved in bringing a new product to market––from scientists and physicians, who develop and test a drug, to the people marketing it to physicians and patients.
“One of the core strengths of Pfizer is that we have cross-functional teams working on these products, ” Katen said. “They work together during the 10- to 15-year clinical process and continue to work as a team after the product is approved [by the FDA]. ”
But Katen’s leadership skills run deeper than simply setting up an organizational chart for a cross-functional team, said Peter Brandt, senior vice president for finance, planning, and business development at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group. She also takes an active interest in developing the people who work for her.
“Karen truly believes in, and cares about, her people, ” said Brandt, who has reported to Katen for more than a decade. “She realizes the importance of developing people and she does that by pushing them––keeping their feet to the fire––and also by providing them with the resources and support to get the job done. ”
“She relies very heavily on the experience and technical knowledge of the physicians in her group, but she’s not intimidated, ” said Dr. Joseph Feczko, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group’s senior vice president for medical and regulatory operations.
And she’s not afraid to make decisions that place people before business, Feczko added, citing the time she supported the free distribution of Pfizer’s antifungal drug Diflucan to AIDS patients in Africa.
“While she’s a bottom-line type of person, she brings a human face to the business, ” Feczko said. “She’s interested in doing the right thing, even if it’s not supportive of the bottom line. ”
The ability to do this type of humanitarian work is one of the things that has kept Katen devoted to a career at Pfizer. “Being able to help people makes this like no other business. The work is never boring, ” said Katen, who is accustomed to excitement and change.
She left the relative tranquility of Missouri in 1966 to attend the college at the University of Chicago. It was a period of social unrest, first with race riots and burning tenements, then with the clash between police and protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
“Here I was, coming from Kansas City, and I didn’t know anyone. And there was all this cultural trauma going on. It was a scary, exciting time, ” Katen recalled.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1970, and, after working for two years in sales at an office supply company, she returned to the University of Chicago to pursue her M.B.A.
“My years in Chicago were intellectually door opening, ” she said. “I was exposed to these really brilliant professors who forced you to think and be analytical. It truly was a cerebral experience. It changed my life. ”
Upon graduation from the GSB in 1974, Katen was hired by Pfizer. She started as a marketing associate in the Roerig division of Pfizer, eventually rising to the position of vice president of marketing in 1983, vice president and director of operations in 1986, and vice president and general manager in 1991. She became executive vice president of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group in 1993 and president of Pfizer U.S. Pharmaceuticals in 1995.
In addition to her work at Pfizer, Katen is on the board of directors of General Motors and the Harris Corporation and is a member of the international council of J.P. Morgan & Company. She is a member of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, on the board of directors of the National Pharmaceutical Council and the United Way of Tri-State, and a member of the national board of trustees of the American Cancer Society Research Foundation.
She also serves on the University of Chicago Board of Trustees and the Council on the Graduate School of Business.
“The lessons I learned while at Chicago have helped me throughout my life, ” Katen said. “I feel close to the school and I try to give something back whenever I can. ”
John T. Slania
Joe Mansueto, A.B. ’78, M.B.A. ’80
Gary A. Mecklenburg, ’70
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