Ray Elliott,59, was named CEO of Boston Scientific following the retirement of Jim Tobin. Elliot has more than 35 years of experience leading health care and consumer products companies.

According to a Boston Scientific press release:

He led the orthopedics company Zimmer Holdings Inc. for 10 years, joining the company as President and rising to become Chairman, President and CEO.

Prior to joining Zimmer, he served as President and CEO of Cybex International Inc., a medical rehabilitation and cardiovascular products company. He has also served as President and Chairman of various divisions of Southam Inc., a communications group, and as Group President of the food and beverage company John Labatt Ltd.

He began his career in the health care industry with American Hospital Supply Corp. – now Baxter International Inc. – where he served for 15 years in sales, marketing, operations, business development and general management positions, leading to his appointment as President of all the Far East divisions, based in Tokyo.

He has also served on a number of boards, including AdvaMed, where he was chair of its orthopedics sector. He was a member of the Boston Scientific board of directors from 2007 until earlier this year. In addition to serving as President and CEO of Boston Scientific, he will rejoin the board. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

During Elliott’s leadership of Zimmer, sales and market capitalization quadrupled. Sales increased from approximately $1 billion in 1997 to approximately $4 billion in 2007.

Elliott oversaw taking Zimmer public in 2001, with an initial market capitalization of approximately $5 billion. At the time of his departure in 2007, the company’s market capitalization was more than $20 billion. In 2005 he was named “Best CEO in America” for Health Care (Medical Supplies and Devices), by Institutional Investor magazine.

In a crowded conference room full of handshaking and backslapping:

“We are delighted that Ray will be joining us as only the third CEO of Boston Scientific,” said Nicholas. “His long and proven track record in leadership positions has prepared him well for this role. Ray is an extremely capable leader with extensive experience running global health care companies. We have gotten to know Ray well as a leader and colleague in the industry, as well as from his service on our board. We are confident he offers the right combination of experience, results and talents for Boston Scientific going forward.”

“As chair of the search committee, I had the opportunity to review a number of strong candidates, and Ray stood out convincingly as our top choice,” said Ernest Mario, Ph.D., a member of the Company’s board of directors. “His experience and success leading large, complex, international companies – coupled with his specific expertise in medical devices – made him the clear selection to be Boston Scientific’s new CEO. We are very pleased that Ray will be assuming the leadership of the Company.”

“It’s an honor to follow Pete and Jim as the CEO of Boston Scientific, a company with great products and technologies, a rich pipeline creating substantial future growth potential, and of course, outstanding people,” said Elliott. “I look forward to leading the Boston Scientific team and building on the impressive tradition of delivering innovative medical solutions to patients and physicians. I am committed, as always, to creating value for them, our employees and our shareholders.”