October 20, 1950
Dr. E. C. Kleiderer, Executive Director
Research and Control
The Lilly Research Laboratories
Eli Lilly and Company
Indianapolis 6, Indiana
Dear Dr. Kleiderer:
I am sorry to learn from your letter of October 16 that the decision has been, made
to cancel the consultant arrangement with me.
I am writing to say that I have enjoyed the intercourse that I have had with the Lilly
Research Laboratories during the past four and a half years very much. I have learned
a great deal from you and your colleagues. It seems to me that you have a very fine
group of men on your staff, and it has been a pleasure to be associated with you.
I want also to say that I have a very high opinion of the Lilly Research Laboratories
and of Eli Lilly and Company. Although I do not know nearly so much about other
firms as about yours, I cannot help feeling that I have had the good fortune of being
associated with the best one.
You probably know that I felt rather hesitant about entering into the consultant arrangement
with the Lilly Laboratories four and a half years ago. I had not been associated
with any company for a good many years, and I was afraid that the consultant arrangement
might in some way interfere with my academic work and with what I consider my primary
function in life, the discovery of new information about the world in which we live.
It has been a source of satisfaction to me that my fears turned out to be without
basis. My only worries about the consultant arrangement have resulted from a feeling
that I might not be making a very significant contribution to your activities.
I want to say that I shall keep confidential all information that I have about Eli
Lilly and Company. In particular, I do not propose to become associated with any
other pharmaceutical house in the foreseeable future.
Sincerely yours,
Linus Pauling:W
