Dennis B. Gillings, CBE, PhD, is a British businessman, the self-made founder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational (now IQVIA, NYSE: IQV), the largest global provider of clinical trials and commercial marketing services for the pharmaceutical industry. Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Gillings's career is rooted in academia and science. He was a long-time professor of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).

His entrepreneurial journey began in 1974 while he was a professor, providing statistical consulting and data management services to pharmaceutical clients. This early work recognized a massive structural inefficiency in drug development: the need for independent, scientifically rigorous, and scalable management of clinical trials. This realization spurred him to found his own company, dedicated to making clinical trials faster and more efficient.

Dennis Gillings founded Quintiles in 1982, expanding the consulting activities he had begun at UNC. His strategic vision was to create the first major Contract Research Organization (CRO), taking the immense logistical and statistical burden of drug development off pharmaceutical companies. This pioneering model transformed the pharma industry globally.

Under his leadership, Quintiles grew exponentially, becoming the largest global provider of clinical trials. Gillings successfully navigated public and private ownership, taking Quintiles public in 1994 and then privatizing it in 2003 before eventually merging with IMS Health in 2016 to form IQVIA. He retired from the board in 2018. Gillings, honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the pharmaceutical industry, secured his multi-billion dollar fortune and his legacy as a founder of the modern biopharmaceutical outsourcing sector.

Dennis Gillings is a dedicated philanthropist, focusing heavily on public health and education. His most significant contribution is the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC, which is named in his honor after his $50 million donation to the university in 2007.

His structural social impact is tied to Quintiles' role in making clinical trials faster and more efficient, accelerating the development and approval of new drugs globally. His company's pioneering model has fundamentally transformed the timeline and cost structure of bringing life-saving drugs to market.

Dennis Gillings maintains the professional, academic style of a scientist-executive. His attire is consistently formal and high-quality, favoring tailored suits. His aesthetic reflects the scientific rigor and institutional credibility of the public health and biostatistics sectors.

Residing in Durham, North Carolina, his luxury is the immense security and financial reward derived from his multi-billion dollar fortune. His life is dedicated to leveraging biostatistics and management expertise to transform the global pharmaceutical drug development process.