Clara, a labeling manager, has been with Merck for 20 years. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico and was a chemistry instructor before joining quality control at our Company’s Barceloneta manufacturing plant. After a few positions, Clara took a job as a quality assurance auditor out of headquarters, causing her and her two children to move to rural New Jersey — a different culture and very different climate. With her passion for chemistry, Clara has accepted the challenges of her position, because, she says, they are the next best thing to working as a chemist. Now, with a M.S. in Quality Assurance/ Regulatory Affairs from Temple University, Clara interacts with colleagues in quality, research and manufacturing (like recently retired Richard at our Rahway site, above) to develop and implement processes and procedures that result in high quality labels on Merck medicines sold worldwide.

Sean was honored by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology (USBE) magazine as a "Modern-Day Technology Leader" at its 2002 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference. A systems associate in the Research Information Services organization within Merck Research Laboratories, Sean develops research software applications that help Merck scientists discover important new medicines. He joined Merck in 1996 as a programmer and today leads a team in the creation of a new data management system that will support the use of robotics for growing protein crystals in the lab. Sean graduated with honors from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia with a major in Computer Science.

After his training in clinical pharmacology, Enock joined Merck Research Laboratories because he would have the opportunity to do "good science" and contribute to the discovery of new medicines. Merck invested in Enock, a UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Fellow, during his research fellowship at Vanderbilt University, where he studied drug metabolism in people. Now, he applies his technical expertise to the manufacturing of vaccines and sterile pharmaceutical products as a member of Merck's Vaccine & Sterile Quality Operations group. Enock received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy in Ghana, West Africa, and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Merck's formal mentoring program, Mentoring at Merck, directly supports the personal and professional growth of our diverse workforce. Introduced in 1998, more than 600 employees from all Merck Divisions participate today.

Pictured left to right are mentoring pairs Tom, vice president & controller, Merck Manufacturing Division and Dina, organization development consultant, Human Resources; Martha, manager, Business Process Solutions, Information Services and Karen, project engineer, Merck Manufacturing Division.