Kenneth Carleton Frazier (born (1954-12-17)December 17, 1954) is an American business executive. He is the Chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. After joining Merck as general counsel, he directed the company's defense against litigation over the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx. Frazier is the first African-American to lead a major pharmaceutical company.

Early life and education[edit]

Kenneth Frazier was born on December 17, 1954, in North Philadelphia.[1] His father, Otis, was a janitor.[2][1] Frazier has said Thurgood Marshall was one of his heroes growing up.[3] Frazier's mother died when he was twelve years old.[1] He attended Northeastern High School. After graduating at age 16, he entered Pennsylvania State University.[3] To make extra money in college, he raised tadpoles and newts and sold them to local stores.[4]

After earning his B.A. from Penn State, Frazier enrolled at Harvard University to study law.[5] He graduated in 1978 with a J.D.[2][5]

Career[edit]

Drinker Biddle

After graduating from Harvard, Frazier started his law career at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia.[3] In 1991, Esther Lardent, head of the Death Penalty Representation Project, asked Frazier to defend death row inmate James Willie “Bo” Cochran.[1] Cochran had been arrested and accused of murdering an assistant manager at a Birmingham grocery store in 1976.[6] Frazier, then a partner at Drinker Biddle, and two colleagues took the case.[4] In 1995, after 19 years on death row, the 11th United States Courts of Appeals overturned Cochran's conviction. In 1997, Cochran was retried and found not guilty.[6] Frazier continued to represent him after leaving Drinker Biddle. During Frazier's law career, he also took four summer sabbaticals to teach trial advocacy in South Africa.[2]

Merck

As a lawyer at Drinker Biddle, one of Frazier's clients was Merck & Co, the second-largest drug company in the United States.[3][4] In 1992, he joined Merck's public affairs division as general counsel.[7][3] Frazier was named senior general counsel in 1999.[8] As general counsel, he was credited with overseeing the company's defense against claims that the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx had caused heart attacks and strokes.[9][8][4] Analysts at the time estimated Merck's liability to range from 20 to 50 billion dollars.[10] Fraizer said the case was “the most significant challenge [he'd] ever faced.”[4] He chose to fight each case in court rather than settle them all quickly.[7] The remaining cases were settled in 2007 for $4.85 billion.[8]

In 2006, Frazier was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel.[8] He led the company's largest group, human health from 2007 until he was named president of Merck in April 2010.[11][3] On January 1, 2011 he became CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors, replacing former Merck CEO Richard Clark.[12][3] Frazier was the first African-American to lead a major pharmaceutical company.[1]

As CEO, Frazier has directed the company to take financial risks in developing new treatments.[10] In 2013, he prioritized research funding over meeting the year's earnings target.[7] He has placed special emphasis on improving treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Frazier's father died from Alzheimer's. Frazier has said he is also motivated at Merck by a desire to improve the lives of people in developing countries.[10]

Life[edit]

Please note: This introduction is from Mr. Frazier’s current page. The reference supporting the claim that he is the first African American to lead a major pharmaceutical company is from the Harvard Law Review. The citation is below. Please see below. “ha1” is the same as what’s currently listed on his page and supports that he is “the first African-American to lead a major pharmaceutical company. His birth date is supported by “ap2010nov30.” This is reference #5 in your original notes.

Drinker Biddle[edit]

Merck[edit]

Penn State[edit]

Other[edit]

Awards[edit]

External links[edit]

Suggested Section: Public Life[edit]

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Suggested Section: Awards[edit]

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Unsourced[edit]

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Referenced Section[edit]

Kenneth Carleton Frazier (born (1954-12-17)December 17, 1954) is the Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. and the first African-American to lead a major pharmaceutical company.[1][11]

Life

Frazier is a native of North Philadelphia, one of the poorest parts of the city.[3] His father, Otis, was a janitor at the United Parcel Service and raised him and his two siblings.[3]

Frazier’s mother died when he was 12.[4] His late father suffered from Alzheimer's disease, which Frazier says inspires him to lead Merck in its development of Alzheimer's medicines.[10]

Frazier graduated early, at the age of 16, from Northeastern High School.[3][7] He has said Thurgood Marshall was one of his heroes growing up. He completed his undergraduate studies at Pennsylvania State University and sold tadpoles and newts to local stores to make money in college.[3][4]

Frazier is married to Andrea with two children, Lauren and James.[4]

Drinker Biddle

He began his law career at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia and was a partner at the firm.[3]

While there, Frazier and two colleagues began working on the case of James Willie “Bo” Cochran, an Alabama man on death row. In 1976, Cochran was arrested, accused and convicted of murdering an assistant manager at a Birmingham grocery store.[4][6] Frazier and his colleagues took the case in 1991.[4] In 1995, after 19 years on death row, the 11th United States Courts of Appeals overturned his conviction. In 1997, Cochran was retried and found not guilty.[6]


Merck


Frazier joined Merck in 1992 in the public affairs division as vice president, general counsel during the company’s collaboration with Astra.[8][11]

Within two years, he was leading the public affairs group. He was named senior general counsel in 1999, promoted to executive vice president and general counsel by 2006.[8]

As general counsel, he was credited with overseeing the company's defense against Vioxx-related litigation and its nearly 5,000 lawsuits claiming Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes.[4][9] Frazier has said that the Vioxx case was “the most significant challenge” he ever faced.[4]

From 2007 to 2010, he served as executive vice president and president of the company's largest group, the global human health unit before being named president of Merck.[9][11] On January 1, 2011 he became CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors, replacing former Merck CEO Richard Clark. He became chairman of the board on December 1, 2011.[12]

Merck is the second-largest drug company in the United States. In 2011, Frazier was eligible for $11.25 million in cash and stock and had a base salary of $1.5 million.[4]

Frazier sits on the boards of Exxon Mobil and the Weill Cornell Medical School and Graduate School of Medical Sciences.[11] In the late 1990s, Frazier was a founding board member of the Cornerstone Christian Academy, an inner-city school K-8 school in Philadelphia, and currently serves on the board of trustees.[11][19]


Penn State

On November 11, 2011, as a member of the Penn State board of trustees, the board selected Frazier as chairman of a commission empaneled to investigate a child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and allegations of a cover up by university officials.[13]

Kenneth Frazier's commission retained the private law firm Freeh, Sporkin & Sullivan as "Special Investigative Counsel" who then hired Pepper Hamilton, legal counsel for Merck. The report, costing the university $6.5 million, was accepted and used as the basis for the NCAA sanctions against Penn State.(unreliable?)[15]

Frazier was criticized by attorney William Cluck and other Penn State alumni for his role in the Penn State Board of Trustees' handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, particularly its decision to fire head football coach Joe Paterno.[14]

On March 14, 2013, while defending the Freeh report at a sub-committee meeting of the Penn State Board of Trustees, Frazier commented on William Cluck's race, saying "if you cared about that, you are one of the few people in this country that looks like you who actually believes the O.J. Simpson not guilty verdict was correct."[22]

Frazier apologized for his remarks to Cluck several days later.[16]



‘’Suggested section: Work and Awards’’

In 2012, Frazier joined several CEOs who met with President Barack Obama to discuss deficit and debt reduction. Frazier said he supported tax revenue increases, including the top 2 percent, but only if accompanied by responsible spending limits. Frazier also discussed the importance of innovation and continued support for biomedical research.[10] On September 18, 2013, President Obama appointed Frazier as a member of the President’s Export Council to represent the views of business on the nation’s export policies and deep commitment to expanding U.S. exports.[5]

He spoke at The American Law Institute’s 90th Annual Meeting in May 2013, on being a lawyer in private, in-house practice and from his current vantage point as CEO of Merck.[23]

Frazier has been recognized for his advocacy in providing legal representation to underserved communities and for his personal pro bono work

References[edit]

[3][4][6][2][7][10][8][11][9][12][13][15][14][22][16][17][18][26][27][28][5][20][29][21][24][25][1][23][19][30][31]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Checked Rice, Lewis I. (Summer 2011). "A Dose of Optimism". Harvard Law Bulletin.((cite news)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Checked Chen, Vivia (February 13, 2002). "Master of the Game". The Minority Law Journal. ((cite news)): Unknown parameter |registration= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Checked Hepp, Christopher K. (December 1, 2010). "New Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier has Philadelphia roots". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Checked "Merck New CEO Frazier Vows Innovation, Wider Markets". Bloomberg. November 30, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Checked "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". The White House. September 18, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Checked Rogers, Lisa (March 26, 2005). "Cochran continues to inspire". Gadsden Times. p. B1.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l unchecked Randall, Tom (March 21, 2011). "Merck's Risky Bet on Research". Bloomberg Businessweek. Cite error: The named reference "randall1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n unchecked Pierson, Ransdell; Krauskopf, Lewis (November 30, 2010). "Merck elevates Frazier to succeed Clark as CEO". Reuters. Cite error: The named reference "pierson1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b c d e unchecked Koppel, Nathan (November 30, 2010). "Another Lawyer Done Good: Merck Names Frazier CEO". Wall Street Journal / Law Blog. Cite error: The named reference "koppel1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Checked Johnson, Linda A. (March 1, 2012). "CEO: Risks Key for Merck to Succeed, Help Patients". Associated Press.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Checked "Biographical Info on Merck CEO-Elect Frazier". Yahoo News. Associated Press. November 30, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j unchecked "Merck's CEO to get $1.5 million yearly, incentives". BusinessWeek. Associated Press. December 1, 2010. Cite error: The named reference "ap2010dec01" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b c d Checked Sisak, Michael R. (November 11, 2011). "Committee promises thorough investigation of sex abuse at PSU". The Citizens' Voice.
  14. ^ a b c d Checked Thompson, Charles (March 14, 2013). "Penn State trustee Ken Frazier fires back at Freeh Report critics". The Patriot-News / PennLive.
  15. ^ a b c Checked "Review of the Freeh Report" (PDF). Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship. September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c Checked "Our View: Penn State trustee Frazier did more harm than good with outburst". Centre Daily Times. March 16, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Checked "Letter to the editor: Penn State trustee Frazier issues apology for comment". Centre Daily Times. March 18, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013.
  18. ^ a b c Checked "Board of Trustees: Kenneth C. Frazier". Penn State University. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c Checked "Board of Trustees". Cornerstone Christian Academy. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  20. ^ a b c Checked "2012 National Equal Justice Award Dinner". NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  21. ^ a b c Checked "NLADA to Honor Merck's Kenneth Frazier with the 2008 NLADA Exemplar Award". National Legal Aid & Defender Association. March 21, 2008.
  22. ^ a b Checked Horne, Kevin (March 15, 2013). "Ken Frazier Goes off on BOT Candidate". Onward State.(unreliable?)
  23. ^ a b Checked "Videos of 2013 Annual Meeting Speakers and Award Presentations". The American Law Institute. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  24. ^ a b unchecked "ACC Awards". Association of Corporate Counsel. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  25. ^ a b unchecked "Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award". Pro Bono Institute. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  26. ^ unchecked "Board of Directors". ExxonMobil. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  27. ^ unchecked "Board of Overseers (Public)". Weill Cornell Medical College. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  28. ^ unchecked "Celgene's Robert J. Hugin Becomes PhRMA Board Chairman". PhRMA. April 12, 2013.
  29. ^ unchecked "EJI Honors Kenneth Frazier and Randy Hertz and Celebrates the Release of Bo Cochran and Phillip Shaw". Equal Justice Initiative. April 7, 2009.
  30. ^ unchecked Herper, Matthew (May 6, 2013). "Merck Could Return To Greatness If CEO Can Leave His Own Past Behind". Forbes.
  31. ^ unchecked "Freeh report: Penn State senior officials disregarded children's welfare". CBSSports.com. July 12, 2012.
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