About Kenneth Frazier
Kenneth Frazier, former chairman and CEO of Merck, has spoken extensively about corporate leadership, racial equity, and the importance of taking public stands on social issues. In 2022, he was recognized as International Executive of the Year by the Executives' Club of Chicago. Frazier has described his decision to resign from President Trump's business council after the 2017 Charlottesville comments, stating that he felt an obligation to stand up against what he called "intolerance and extremism." He said his board unanimously supported him speaking to the company's values rather than as an individual. Frazier has also discussed the OneTen initiative, a coalition of companies committed to hiring one million Black Americans without four-year degrees over ten years, describing it as a way to create "family sustaining wages" by making jobs skills-based rather than credentials-based.
Frazier has been outspoken about voting rights, noting that he helped organize a full-page ad signed by about 700 business leaders opposing what he described as undue interference with voting. He has said that "it's a mistake for corporations to take democracy for granted" and that companies should insist on "everyone who's an eligible voter having a fair and equitable opportunity to cast their vote." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Frazier emphasized the need for broad, equitable access to vaccines, stating that "unless all of us are safe none of us are safe." He has also criticized what he called "vaccine nationalism" and urged transparency in vaccine development, saying that pauses in clinical trials should reassure the public that safety systems are working.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Kenneth Frazier's recent appearances.
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Kenneth Frazier0:00
Whether or not people accept or agree with the conclusions in the report, or despite its findings, or reinterpret the documents, the report was independent and complete based on the available evidence and witnesses. I would also like to make a few other comments for the record to try and clear up some misimpressions that have been widely publicized and reported. First, other than responding to the recommendations, this board has taken no actions based on the findings or conclusions in the Freeh report. The board has not voted to accept the report or any specific findings or conclusions contained in the report. I have read and considered the Paterno report. The Paterno report is just that, a report. It isn't an independent investigation. The facts are the facts. The NCAA sanctions and the civil cases are based in part on how others interpret the facts and conclusions in the Freeh report. The university has not accepted those conclusions and interpretations by third parties, except for the limited purpose of the consent decree as insisted upon by the NCAA. Penn State is one of the foremost academic institutions in the world. The actions of this board are not simply being watched by those in the Penn State or State College community, but those in the rest of the country and indeed around the world. It is crystal clear that we as a board cannot and should not reinvestigate the Freeh investigation. Any attempt to try and rewrite history will be damaging to efforts to move the university past this horrible event. It will also speak volumes to Penn State's commitment to taking accountability for any harm that occurred to children on its campus. The university remains firmly committed to playing a leadership role in combating the national scourge of child sex abuse. This has been a painful process for all of us in the Penn State community, but we should be proud that out of our darkest moment, we are not only doing everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again here, but that we are truly leading national and global change in this area. I think it's fair to say that the Paterno report may be of use to people who are interested in focusing on the particular role of Coach Paterno. And I want to say, Coach Paterno lived an exemplary life. And this is not from my standpoint something that was intended to judge Joe Paterno when we put this report together. It was intended to shed light on what happened, and I believe it has shed considerable light on what happened, because it is the investigation that has produced the facts and the documentary evidence of the facts.
