Former Merck VP to lead Murdock Research Institute

Luther

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — Dr. Michael Allen Luther, a former vice president with pharmaceutical giant Merck, has been named president of the David H. Murdock Research Institute at the N.C. Research Campus.

Born in Albemarle, Luther will run the Murdock Institute, which owns and operates the Core Laboratory Building in Kannapolis. The calling card of the Research Campus, the five-story, 311,000-square-foot building contains one of the most complete life sciences labs in the world.

"This brings me home," said Luther, who will move from Canada back to North Carolina.

Luther last served as vice president for basic research at Merck Frosst Canada, where he led efforts at the company's research center in Montreal. He oversaw the development of therapeutics for respiratory, endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Merck's best-selling pharmaceutical is the allergy and asthma drug Singulair.

After a lengthy search that was delayed several times, the Murdock Institute announced Luther's appointment Tuesday.

"I wanted to join at this stage, when it's in the very early days," he told the Post. "As I told Mr. Murdock, if you came to me five years from now when it's up and running, I might not be as interested."

David Murdock, billionaire owner of Dole Food Co., founded the Research Campus and officially opened the Core Lab five months ago.

Luther's grandparents and father worked at Wiscasset Mills in Albemarle. His father grew up in a mill house.

The Research Campus is built on the ruins of another textile manufacturing plant in Kannapolis, Cannon Mills.

"It's a dramatic change from the days that I used to drive through Kannapolis as a kid with my dad," Luther said.

The opportunity "for setting direction and strategy" lured him to the job, he said.

"We are really excited about him," said Dr. Steven Leath, president of the Murdock Institute board and vice president for research for the University of North Carolina system.

Luther said his first priority is to develop and execute a well-articulated business plan "so that we can take Mr. Murdock's vision and make it into a reality."

Hiring Ph.D.-trained scientists and other personnel will begin immediately, he said.

"We are looking at all levels," he said. "The key is getting the labs up and functional and operational."

The institute has 10 upper-level openings posted at the online jobs board, www.jobsatncrc.com. Researchers from the eight universities at the Research Campus have been serving as interim lab directors.

Luther received his bachelor's degree from N.C. State University, his Ph.D. from St. Louis University School of Medicine and his MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

He spent 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline in Research Triangle Park and the United Kingdom.

The Murdock Institute and Core Lab Building have attracted scientists from around the world to Kannapolis.

Universities and private companies will pay a fee to use state-of-the-art scientific equipment, including one of the world's first actively-shielded 950 megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers.

Murdock established his research institute as a public charity with a $150 million grant. The institute is designed to be a catalyst for major scientific discoveries in health and nutrition.