In Memoriam - Mary Gallagher
I try to stick to topics of broad interest to the life sciences industry. I rarely get personal. Today, I’ve decided to break my rules to honor a friend to many of us in the industry.
Last week, Mary Gallagher of New Hope, PA died after a brief but horrific battle with cancer. Her death at age 50 came as an unnerving shock to her many friends and co-workers who knew only that she had taken a leave of absence from work in December.
Mary was one of those people whose work you rarely read about. Her job promotions weren’t celebrated in press releases. She wasn’t a recipient of national awards. She didn’t edit a journal or write a blog. All she did was make sure that the work got done.
After a couple of decades in the business, some people take their jobs for granted. They assume roles of entitled elder statesmen who pass off mundane jobs for others to do while taking credit for successes and pawning off failures.
Not Mary. She grew into her role as a clinical operations leader gracefully, becoming a genuine expert while remaining virtually egoless. She was a supervisor but was available to perform any task without complaint if she felt it needed her personal attention. She gave credit to others freely and shied from the spotlight herself.
At her funeral, Mary’s co-workers described her as gentle and kind, hard-working and confident. They mentioned her infectious smile, broad and literally glowing, her fair skin becoming erubescent with little prompting. They reflected on her empathy and her eagerness to listen and to mentor.
Mary Gallagher will not be remembered in textbooks of pharmaceutical medicine. Her story will not be learned by college students. But the world needs to know about Mary, because she made a difference. She was all that any of us can aspire to be–a decent human being who shared love and kindness and served as an example for others to emulate. The pharmaceutical industry, indeed all of humanity, has lost a brightly shining star.
