Charles R. Walgreen III (1935–2016) was an American businessperson.
Walgreen, grandson of Charles Walgreen Sr., who founded the Walgreens drugstore chain in 1901, began his career with the company as a stock boy in 1952.[1][2] He earned a pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan in 1958 and returned to Walgreens, rising through the ranks to become president in 1969, CEO in 1971, and chairman in 1976.[1][3]
During his tenure, Walgreen doubled the company's store count to over 1,200, shifted its focus to pharmacy, and divested from non-core businesses.[1] He stepped down as CEO in 1998, retired as chairman in 1999, and left the board in 2010.[1][2]
In 2004, Walgreen donated $2 million to the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy to endow a professorship focused on researching the socioeconomics of health care policies.[1]
Walgreen died in 2016.[4][5][6]