Ernest Mario

Who is Ernest Mario?

Ernest Mario is an American pharmaceutical industry executive and the recipient of the 2007 Remington Honor Medal awarded by the American Pharmacists Association.

Ernest Mario grew up in Northern New Jersey, attending the Clifton Public Schools, elementary school #6, Christopher Columbus Middle School and Clifton High School. He received a bachelor of science in Pharmacy from Rutgers University, and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in physical chemistry from the University of Rhode Island.

He was a registered pharmacist in the State of New York and worked as a community pharmacist during his early career. After completing his graduate work, he began a career in the pharmaceutical industry, beginning as a researcher for Strasenburgh Laboratories in Rochester, New York. He subsequently held positions with SmithKline & French in Philadelphia, PA; E.R. Squibb & Sons in New Brunswick, NJ and Princeton, NJ; and Glaxo Inc. in Research Triangle Park, NC. In 1990 he became the Chief Executive Officer of Glaxo Holdings, plc, based out of London, England. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Board and CEO of Glaxo Holdings from 1992 to 1993. He was the Chairman and CEO of Alza Corporation, based in Palo Alto, CA, from 1993 until the company was purchased by Johnson & Johnson, Inc, in 2001. After Alza, Mario became Chairman and CEO of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, based in Liberty Corner, New Jersey. He has also been the non-executive Chairman of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, since 1993.