Kenneth F

Biography

Chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Merck & Co., Inc. Director, Exxon Mobil and PhRMA. Member, Board of Overseers, Weill Cornell Medicine. Trustee, Cornerstone Christian Academy. Director since Jan. 1, 2011. Kenneth C. Frazier is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada. Previously, Ken served as president of the company with responsibility for its three major divisions: sales and marketing for human pharmaceutical and vaccine products, manufacturing and supply and the research laboratories. Ken has held a broad range of senior management positions since joining the company in 1992 as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Astra Merck Group. He was elected vice president of Public Affairs in 1994, and, in 1997, assumed the additional responsibilities of assistant general counsel, corporate staff. Ken was promoted to vice president and deputy general counsel in January 1999. In December 1999, he became senior vice president and general counsel. In this role, he oversaw the legal and public affairs functions of the U.S.-based Merck Foundation. In November 2006, he was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel. Ken served as executive vice president and president, Global Human Health, from 2007 to May 2010, when he became president. Ken became CEO and member of the company’s board of directors on January 1, 2011, and became chairman of the board on December 1, 2011. Prior to joining the company, Ken was a partner with the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath. Ken sits on the boards of PhRMA, Weill Cornell Medicine, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia, PA. He also is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Business Council, the Council of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association. Ken received his bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Research Interest

biological engineering, pharmaceutical biotechnology, Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry