Knight Site

Susan Capps Morris graduated from North Penn High School in 1973 and from Lehigh University in 1977 with a BS degree in Biology. Sue worked for Merck & Co., Inc. for 35 years, and retired in 2012. Today, Sue is President of S C Morris Consulting, LLC and currently serves on Advisory Boards for DIR Technologies, Israel, and Allan Myers Construction, Worcester, PA.

Sue’s 35-year career at Merck encompassed a broad scope of responsibilities across a wide range of geographies. Her career began as a biological technician performing routine testing throughout the vaccine manufacturing areas which led to her becoming a manufacturing supervisor. Sue loved the manufacturing environment where lifesaving products were manufactured and every day was challenging and rewarding; new products with advanced technologies were introduced and manufacturing was expanding. Sue knew early on that manufacturing was where she wanted her career.

 Sue’s career continued; she held positions of increasing responsibility throughout 1980-1990 including Production Supervisor-Sterile Operations, Environmental Control Analyst, Production Manager, and Operations Improvement Manager, all focused primarily at the local West Point site. During the period 1990-2000, Sue’s scope of responsibilities and geography expanded significantly. During this period she was the manufacturing point person for the startup of a Joint Venture with Johnson & Johnson and later relocated to Merck headquarters in New Jersey to establish a Global Supply Planning Organization for a newly integrated manufacturing division. The position required an understanding of all the manufacturing plants worldwide and to establish production levels for each to meet global supply. Travel became routine, and meeting and working with people worldwide were learning and growth experiences that Sue treasured. During this period the business scope of Sue’s responsibilities was expanded to include leading a Worldwide Respiratory Business Team. This responsibility included setting up and leading a team whose cross-functional membership included people across Merck from the Research, Regulatory, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, and Finance areas with the responsibility to manage the Respiratory Franchise from product discovery through sales. The team’s efforts led to the successful launch of SINGULAIR, and other new products.

Sue returned to Manufacturing from 2000-2009 where she became Senior Vice President, Americas Operations, with 4500 employees and responsibility for Pharmaceutical and Chemical Manufacturing plants in the United States(6), Canada, Puerto Rico(3), Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Costa Rica.

Sue became Chief of Staff to the CEO in 2009 with a broad scope of responsibilities to ensure completion of key worldwide business objectives and strategic plans. The position also included worldwide travel and meeting leaders of foreign countries and major world businesses.

During Sue’s career, she served on the Board of Directors for The Franklin Institute and The National Association of Manufacturers. She currently serves on Advisory Boards for DIR Technologies, Israel, and Allan Myers Construction, Worcester, PA.

  Sue has been married for 38 years to her husband, Vince. They have two sons, Tim, 33, and Matt, 30. They also have two wonderful granddaughters, Emma and Isabelle. Her outside interests include fitness, tennis, cooking, and travel.

Sue describes herself as an ordinary person that has had an extraordinary life thanks to the love, support, and caring from so many people along her life’s journey. Education was a key element of her success, from her seventh-grade science teacher, Mr. Kremlick, who made science amazing; to the outstanding education, she received in North Penn including Calculus, Genetics, and advanced Biology and Physics. She says all of this prepared her for Lehigh University and graduating with Highest Honors. “I had people around me that truly cared about me throughout my education and career and I will always appreciate and never forget all that they did for me”.

INDUCTED 2019