WASHINGTON, July 17, 2024 – American Bar Association President Mary Smith will award a Presidential Citation to Kenneth C. Frazier, executive chairman of Merck’s board of directors and the company’s former president and chief executive officer, at the association’s Annual Meeting, July 31-Aug. 6, in Chicago.
The citation notes that Frazier “has devoted his renowned legal career as an outspoken advocate for corporate and societal diversity, diversity in the legal profession and America’s constitutional values.”
Frazier serves as special adviser on the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, co-chair of the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council and a board member of the National Constitution Center. He co-founded and serves as co-chair of OneTen, a coalition of leading organizations committed to facilitating a meaningful, measurable and lasting impact on racial and economic justice.
Frazier’s awards and honors include the Anti-Defamation League Courage Against Hate Award, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund National Equal Justice Award.
He also received the Harvard Law School Association Award in 2018, the highest honor given by the association, in recognition of his service to the legal profession, Harvard Law School and the public. In that same year, he was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine and was also named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and again made that list in 2021.
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