Harvard University has announced that Kenneth C. Frazier will join the Harvard Corporation. The Corporation, also known as the President and Fellows of Harvard College, is one of Harvard’s two governing boards. It oversees fiduciary responsibility for Harvard University’s academic, financial, and physical resources and overall well-being.
“Academic excellence and academic freedom lie at the heart?of?Harvard’s essential mission of teaching, learning, and scholarship. So does creating a climate for honest, good-faith, respectful discourse on difficult issues, in a spirit of open-mindedness, empathy, and understanding,” said Frazier in the announcement.? “I look forward to working with my future colleagues on the governing boards?to help?Harvard advance?those?ideals, and?to support?the University’s outstanding faculty, students, and staff as they work to expand knowledge and serve?society.”
Frazier is the former Chairman and CEO of Merck. He joined Merck in 1992 as vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the Astra Merck group. He was named president of Merck in May 2010 and became Merck’s CEO and a member of its board in January 2011. On December 1, 2011 he became chairman of the board. He retired as CEO in June 2021. He was elected to ALI in December 1996 and to the ALI Council in 2003, taking emeritus status from Council in 2022.
Filling an existing vacancy, Frazier began his service to the Corporation on February 7.