Kenneth C. Fraizer
Chairman of the Board
and
Chief Executive Officer
Grandson of A Slave...
Fraizer was born on December 17, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Clara and Otis Fraizer. Clara’s family came from Harrisonburg, Virginia and his grandfather, a slave and sharecropper from South Carolina sent Fraizer’s father north at the age of 15 years old. Fraizer’s dad eventually met and married Clara. They settled in North Philadelphia, an impoverished black neighborhood where Fraizer was raised with his siblings.
Click here to learn a little about DJ and activist,
Georgie Woods on WDAS Black Radio station in Philadelphia.
Most likely the radio voice Fraizer listened to growing up
in North Philly.
Raised by A Single Father...
Fraizer’s mother died suddenly when he was 12 years old leaving his father a widow and single parent. This was a very traumatic time for the entire family. Fraizer describes this time in his life in an interview captured in this written transcript of an audio interview excerpt from The HistoryMakers.
Fraizer describes his father as being a wonderful man but not sentimental about his children. Fraizer’s dad worked hard to earn a living for the family. His mother was the nurturer. When Fraizer’s mother died his dad had to learn how to cook and how to step into that role of being a nurturer. Later on in life, Fraizer’s dad would go on to express how grateful he was for being able to get to know his children better.
Soared Academically...
Photo of Northeast High School
in 1957 just after it was built.
Most likely the way it
Looked while Fraizer was there.
Entered College at Age 16...
Fraizer applied and was accepted at West Point Military Academy directly after high school but shortly learned he was too young to meet West Point cadet age requirements. He was given the option to attend the Academy’s prep school for a year but made the choice to enter college at Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. Fraizer, working around his school schedule, earned money by selling newts and tadpoles to local stores. Fraizer’s eyes were open to so many new opportunities while at Penn State.
Immediately following Penn State University, Fraizer was accepted and
enrolled into Harvard University Law School where he recounts being one of few students on campus that did not come from an Ivy league undergraduate school.
His Career...
After graduating law school Fraizer began practicing at Drinker,
Biddle and Reath LLP, a Philadelphia law firm where Merck & Co
was one of his clients. Fraizer was the second African American
at the firm.
In 1992 Fraizer joined the general counsel’s office at Merck & Co. providing legal advice to the company and eventually becoming the senior legal advisor for the company. According to Inc. Magazine, an online publication, Fraizer made his mark at Merck when he followed a litigation strategy over the company’s Vioxx pain medication that saved Merck between $15 - $45 Billion. Additionally, during his tenure at Merck, Fraizer was awarded the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award for successfully arguing and overturning the Cochran v. Herring death row case.