The former Merck exec, who was in the running to succeed Ray Gilmartin as ceo until the Vioxx withdrawal dashed his hopes, is wondering how to spend his time. Until recently, Brad was running Reliant Pharmaceuticals, a small specialty drug marketer that was searching for a strategy. Within a year of his arrival, however, Reliant was sold to Glaxo.

Unlike most of the thousands of pharma employees being let go by his former employers and their rivals, Sheares appears to have the luxury of time. Earlier this week, he gave a pep talk to college students at Montclair State University, which was holding its annual Pharmfest forum. And he tells The Star-Ledger of New Jersey that he has talked at other schools as well.

“Since leaving Reliant, I’ve been doing this sort of stuff,” Sheares, 51, tells the paper, while acknowledging that he does spend some time as director on the Honeywell and Progressive boards. But what next? Does he miss the intrigue of running a major marketing organization? “There are a lot of things pulling at you,” he demurs. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Right now, I’m just taking some time to think about the next step.”