Biography

Mr. Deese retired from Merck & Co., Inc., a global pharmaceutical company, on June 1, 2016 after serving as Executive Vice President beginning in 2008 and President of the Merck Manufacturing Division beginning in 2005. He was also a member of Merck’s Executive Committee. Mr. Deese originally joined Merck in 2004 as the company’s Senior Vice President of Global Procurement. Formerly, Mr. Deese served as a member of the Board of Trustees of North Carolina A&T State University from 2007 to 2015. In addition, Mr. Deese served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of North Carolina A&T State University from 2011 to 2013. Previously, Mr. Deese served as Senior Vice President of Global Procurement and Logistics at GlaxoSmithKline and as Senior Vice President of Procurement at SmithKlineBeecham. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. as Chair of its Corporate Governance Committee, a member of its Compensation Committee and as a member of its Audit Committee.