George Wilhelm Herman Emanuel Merck (March 29, 1894 – November 9, 1957) was the president of Merck & Co. from 1925 to 1950 and a member of the

Merck family The Merck family is a German nobility, German noble family of industrialists and bankers, known for establishing the world's oldest pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, Merck, its American former subsidiary Merck & Co. (MSD), which is now an inde ...

Early life

George W. Merck was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, to George Friedrich and Friedrike (Schenck) Merck. His father had emigrated from Germany in 1891 to oversee the new office of E. Merck and Company at 62 Wall Street. He was raised in

Llewellyn Park Llewellyn Park is a historic gated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Llewellyn Park is thought to be the country's first planned residential community, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, where he had access to

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

's workshop. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

with a B.S. in chemistry in 1915. Both his parents were Christians.New York Community Trust
George W. Merck 1894 to 1957 While there, he edited ''

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate Humor magazine, humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seve ...

''.

Career

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

prevented him from pursuing an advanced degree in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Instead, he joined his father at the company. He was made president of the company in 1925, succeeding his father shortly before his death, while his father became chairman of the board. During the interwar years, he oversaw Merck's involvement in the development of synthetic

vitamin Vitamins are Organic compound, organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamer, vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolism, metabolic function. Nutrient#Essential nutrients, ...

s, sulfas,

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s, and

hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he led the War Research Service, which initiated the

U.S. biological weapons program The United States biological weapons program officially began in spring 1943 on orders from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Research continued following World War II as the U.S. built up a large stockpile of biological agents and weapons. Ove ...

with Frank Olson. After relinquishing the title of president, he remained chairman of the board of directors until his death in 1957. He was on the cover of ''Time'' magazine on August 18, 1952, illustrating a story about the American drug industry.

Philanthropy

In 1951, Merck donated 2600 acres of forest and farmland to be used for public use. This tract of land is in

Rupert, Vermont Rupert is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 698 at the 2020 census. The town is home tThe Maple News a trade publication focused on the maple syrup industry, and the former Jenks Tavern, built around 1807, ...

. After his death, the area was renamed the Merck Forest and Farmland Foundation which seeks to educate about sustainable farming and forest agriculture. It is a popular destination for hikers and campers.

Honors

Merck was awarded the

Medal for Merit The Medal for Merit was the highest civilian decoration of the United States in the gift of the president. Created during World War II, it was awarded by the president of the United States to civilians who "distinguished themselves by exceptiona ...

for his contribution to the war effort, and the Industry Medal of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, as well as honorary doctorates from several universities. He served as president of the

Manufacturing Chemists' Association American Chemistry Council (ACC), known as the Manufacturing Chemists' Association at its founding in 1872 then as the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (from 1978 until 2000), is an industry trade association for American chemical companies, b ...

from 1949 to 1952 and was also on the board of the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Death

He died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

. He is interred in the Merck family plot in Orange's Rosedale Cemetery.

Early life

Career

Philanthropy

Honors

Death

References

Further reading