Portal:Indiana/Selected biography/21

Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was a soldier, pharmaceutical chemist, industrialist, and founder of the eponymous Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War, he recruited a company of men to serve with him, and was later promoted to colonel and given command of a force of cavalry. Using his wealth, Lilly engaged in numerous philanthropic pursuits. The company he founded has since grown into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana. His son and grandsons created the Lilly Endowment to continue Lilly's legacy of philanthropy.