Richard S. Bowles III accepted the position of chief compliance officer for the pharmaceutical company, Merck, overseeing ethics and compliance, and will also serve on the executive committee of the firm.

Bowles moved to this new position following the merger of the Merck and Schering-Plough last March. Previously, he was senior vice president of global quality operations at Schering-Plough.

Bowles began working for Merck in 1974, holding a variety of positions in research, quality and manufacturing at the company. In 2001, he left the position as vice president for Merck’s Latin American and Puerto Rican manufacturing operations to join Schering-Plough as vice president of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Bowles earned masters and undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering from Columbia University, and received his PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton in 1983.