Kenneth C. Frazier is Executive Chairman of Merck’s board of directors, after stepping down as CEO on July 1, 2021. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2011. Prior to joining Merck in 1992, Mr. Frazier was a partner with the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath.
Mr. Frazier sits on the boards of PhRMA, Weill Cornell Medicine, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Catalyst, and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia, PA. He is co-founder and co-chair of OneTen, a coalition of leading organizations committed to upskilling, hiring, and promoting one million Black Americans into family-sustaining jobs. Mr. Frazier also is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, The Business Council, the Council of the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, and a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Additionally, Mr. Frazier is co-chair of the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council.
Mr. Frazier is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Anti-Defamation League Courage Against Hate Award, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School, the Legend in Leadership Award from the Yale School of Management, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund National Equal Justice Award, and the National Minority Quality Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, Mr. Frazier was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine and also was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. In 2019, he became the first recipient of the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for Healthcare.
