Power Alley: Merck Continues To Add The "Best And Brightest" To Its Evolving "New Generation" Of Board of Directors Members...

Back in 2013, when the man at right was only in his early 40s, President Obama appointed Steve Mayo, Caltech's William K. Bowes Jr. Foundation Chair of the Division of Biology and Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry, to the National Science Board, the governing body of the National Science Foundation. That is an honor reserved to only the very best of the best, in America.

And so, as an indisputably premier, influential top-shelf US life scientist, and perhaps the best of the newer crop of biologists nationwide, Dr. Mayo could choose any one, of hundreds, boards of life science companies to join -- each would welcome his input. And doubtless, several were already wooing him. But in the end, he chose Merck, under Mr. Frazier's stellar leadership. Thus, Merck again shows that it is rebuilding its reputation as very near the top of the most ethical and respected major pharma concerns, on the planet (as it last was, in the Roy Vagelos era of four decades ago now).

Here's a bit from Kennilworth's announcement of yesterday:

. . .Merck today announced that Dr. Stephen “Steve” L. Mayo, professor, California Institute of Technology, will join the company’s Board of Directors effective March 15, 2021. Dr. Mayo will stand for election with the company’s other directors at Merck’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 25, 2021. With the addition of Dr. Mayo, the Merck board will consist of 14 members.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Mayo to the Merck Board. He brings extensive scientific expertise, and we look forward to his contributions and insights,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck.

Dr. Mayo is the Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he has held a number of other roles, including Chair of the Division of Biology & Biological Engineering and Vice Provost. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 for his pioneering contributions in the field of protein design, Dr. Mayo has also served as a presidential appointee on the National Science Foundation’s National Science Board and as an elected board member for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Mayo earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. . . .

Onward, as Black history is being made, in real time now -- at the dawn of the month -- all, with the scent of fresh ice, in the air (what is that Inuit word?) -- headed into the Loop for the first time in a few weeks. . . grinning, to check on the office. . . .

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