<PAGE>
 
                                                                 Amended Through
                                                                October 29, 1988

                                                                       COMPOSITE
                                                                       ---------
                              THE MEAD CORPORATION
                   DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN FOR DIRECTORS*
                   ----------------------------------------

Section 1.  Definitions.

     (a)  Year means each calendar year commencing on January 1 and ending on
          the succeeding December 31.

     (b)  Company means The Mead Corporation, an Ohio corporation, and its
          corporate successors.

     (c)  Compensation Committee means the Compensation Committee of the Board
          of Directors of the Company.

     (d)  Director means any person who serves on the Board of Directors of the
          Company except members of the Board of Directors who are also
          employees of the Company.

     (e)  Plan means this Deferred Compensation Plan for Directors.

     (f)  Termination Date means the date a Director concludes his/her service
          on the Company's Board of Directors.

Section 2.  Eligibility.

     The Plan is limited to those present or future Directors of the Company.

Section 3.  Administration.

     (a)  The Plan shall be administered by the Compensation Committee which may
delegate to the appropriate officers and/or employees of the Company such duties
in connection with the administration of the Plan as they may deem
necessary, advisable or appropriate. All Directors who are members of the
Compensation Committee shall be eligible to participate in the Plan.

     (b)  Subject to the express provisions of the Plan, the Compensation
Committee shall have authority to construe and interpret the Plan, to prescribe,
amend, and rescind rules and regulations relating to the Plan, and to make all
other determinations necessary or advisable for administering the Plan. The
Compensation Committee may correct any defect or supply any omission or
reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan in the manner and to the extent it shall
deem expedient to carry it into effect. The determinations of the Compensation
Committee on any matters within the scope of this Section 3(b) shall be
conclusive.

Section 4.  Election by Participants.

     (a)  At least thirty days prior to the commencement of each Year, the
Compensation Committee shall cause to be furnished to each Director an
appropriate form which enables the Director to elect to defer, until after the
Director's termination date, payment of a minimum of 20% up to a maximum of 100%
(in increments of 10%) of compensation earned for service on the Company's Board
of Directors during the upcoming year (including annual retainer and fees for
attending meetings of the Board and its Committees, but excluding expense
reimbursement). The Director shall select the date and manner of receiving any
compensation that is deferred each year, provided that such selection must be in
accordance with the following:

     (i)  with respect to compensation payable for the 1987 Year and preceding
years.

          (I)  the date to pay or commence paying the compensation shall be the
first day of any month after the Director's Termination Date and before the
Director's 72nd birthday, and
          
          (II)  the compensation shall be paid either in one lump sum on the
Deferral Date or in up to 25 annual installments, commencing on the Deferral
Date.
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     *This is a composite of The Mead Corporation Deferred Compensation Plan for
     Directors, reflecting the plan and all amendments adopted through October
     29, 1988. The plan has been supplemented by a 1985 Supplement which is set
     forth in a separate document.
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     (ii)  with respect to compensation payable for the 1988 Year and 
subsequent years.

          (I)  the date to commence paying the compensation shall be the January
2 next following the Director's Termination Date or such later January 2 as may
be chosen by the Director, but in any event not later than the January 2 of the
Year following the year in which the Participant becomes or would have become
age 72, and

          (II)  the compensation shall be paid in 15 level annual installments 
commencing on the Deferral Date.

     The date chosen to pay or commence payment of compensation pursuant to 
paragraph (i)(I) or (ii)(I) above is referred to herein as the "Deferral Date." 
The actual payment of the lump sum or of the first of the annual installments 
may be at any time within one year of the Deferral Date, at the sole discretion 
of the Compensation Committee (or its delegate). To the extent that a Director 
has not elected to defer compensation, such compensation payment shall be made 
in cash to him/her at the time it would be otherwise payable.

     (b)  In order to be effective, the form must be signed by the Director and 
must be returned to the Compensation Committee (or its delegate) prior to the 
commencement of the Year. If the Director fails to return the form or if the 
form is received after the commencement of the Year, then the Director shall be 
deemed to have elected not to defer compensation and no amended election made 
thereon, which is otherwise permitted by Section 4(c), shall be effective.

     (c)  The election made by the Director under Section 4(a) shall be 
irrevocable provided that a Deferral Date chosen by the Participant and/or the 
number of installments payable to the Director may be changed by the 
Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, but only, unless the 
Compensation Committee determines otherwise, in the event of a severe financial 
hardship to the Director resulting from a sudden and unexpected illness or 
accident to the Director or a dependent (as defined in Section 152(a) of the 
Internal Revenue Code) of the Director, loss of the Director's property due to 
casualty, or other similar extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances arising
as a result of events beyond the control of the Director. In the event a change 
made pursuant to this paragraph affects a Director who is a member of the 
Compensation Committee, such Director shall not participate in the Compensation
Committee's  decision. The number of installments payable to the Director's 
designated beneficiary may be changed by the Compensation Committee on the same 
basis as set forth in this paragraph.

     (d)  In the case of a new Director who has been designated as eligible to 
participate in the Plan for the Year in which he/she begins service on the 
Company Board of Directors, a timely election with respect to such Year will be 
deemed to have been made if it is in fact made and returned to the Compensation 
Committee within 30 days after such person becomes a Director.

Section 5.  Deferred Compensation.

     (a)  The Company shall establish an appropriate record (hereinafter 
referred to as the "Deferred Compensation Ledger") and thereafter from time to 
time enter therein the name of each Director who has elected Deferred 
Compensation in accordance with Section 4 hereof, the amount of compensation 
payments which he/she has elected to defer and his/her preference as to the 
manner of payment of such compensation.

     (b)  With respect to compensation earned in 1982 through 1983, the Company 
shall credit annually to a Director's account (including the account of a 
Director who has passed his Termination Date) interest at a rate equal to the 
weekly composite bond yield for single A bonds rounded to the nearest 1/10 of 
1%, as published in the S & P Indexes of the Security Markets for the last week 
of the third quarter of the Year preceding the year earned.

     For compensation earned in 1984 and 1985, the interest to be credited to 
such account(s) shall be at a rate equal to the nine-month average composite 
bond yield for single A bonds rounded to the nearest 1/10 of 1% as published in 
the S & P Indexes of the Security Markets for the first nine months of the 
Second Year preceding the year such interest is credited.

     For compensation earned in 1986 and subsequent years, the interest to be 
credited to such account(s) shall be at a rate equal to the nine-month average 
composite bond yield for prime grade, ten-year municipal bonds rounded to the 
nearest 1/10 of 1% published in the Salomon Brothers Index of the Security 
Markets for the first nine months of the Second Year preceding the year such 
interest is credited. Each post-1983 account will be credited with interest, 
which will change from year to year based upon the above calculations.

                                      (2)
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    (c)  Except to the extent otherwise provided in this Section, the amounts 
credited to a Director's account in the Deferred Compensation Ledger shall be 
paid to the Director (or his/her beneficiary designated under Section 5(d) 
hereof) after his/her Termination Date in accordance with Section 4(a) hereof.  
In the case of installment payments, each such payment shall include an amount 
equal to the percentages credited to his/her account under Section 5(b) hereof 
since the next preceding payment.

     Notwithstanding the form of payment selected by the Director, the amounts 
(or a portion of the amounts) credited to a Director's account (or accounts) in 
the Deferred Compensation Ledger shall be paid as follows under the following 
circumstances:

     (i) if the aggregate amount credited to a Director's account is $10,000 or 
less, at the time of his/her Termination Date (after all distributions pursuant 
to (ii) below), then such amount shall be paid in one lump sum on or before the 
last day of the month next following the Director's Termination Date.

     (ii) if the Director's Termination Date precedes his/her 55th birthday
(other than as a result of the Director's death or disability), then deferred
compensation relating to the 1988 Year and subsequent years and earnings thereon
credited to the Director's account shall be paid in one lump sum on or before
the last day of the month next following the Director's Termination Date.

     (d)  Each Director upon election of Deferred Compensation shall file with
the Compensation Committee (or its delegate) a notice in writing designating one
or more beneficiaries to whom payments shall be made in the event of his/her
death. The Director shall have the right to change the beneficiary or
beneficiaries from time to time; provided, however, that any change shall not
become effective until received in writing by the Compensation Committee (or its
delegate). In the event a Director fails to deliver such written designation,
then such payments shall be made to the estate of such Director. At the time of
filing a form pursuant to Section 4(a), the Director may also file with the
Compensation Committee (or its delegate) a written election of the date for
commencement of payments to the designated beneficiary and manner of payment in
the event of his/her death. In the event a Director fails to deliver such
written election, payment shall commence as of the date of his/her death or 
continue to be paid to his/her beneficiary in the manner elected under Section
4(a). In no event shall the aggregate number of annual installments paid to a
Director and his/her beneficiary exceed 25.

     (e)  Nothing contained in the Plan and no action taken pursuant to the
provisions hereof shall create or be construed to create a trust of any kind, or
a fiduciary relationship between the Company and any Director, or any
beneficiary of such Director designated pursuant to Section 5(d) hereof or any
other person. Title to, and beneficial ownership of, any amounts credited to the
Deferred Compensation Ledger shall at all times remain in the Company, and no
Director or any beneficiary designated pursuant to Section 5(d) hereof shall
have any property interest whatsoever in such amounts or in any specific assets
of the Company. All amounts so credited shall remain general assets of the
Company and shall be subject to the claims of general creditors of the Company.

Section 6.  Nonalienation of Benefits.

     No right or benefit under this Plan shall be subject to anticipation,
alienation, sale, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, or charge, and any attempt to
anticipate, alienate, sell, assign, pledge, encumber, or charge the same shall
be void. No right or benefit hereunder shall in any manner be liable for or
subject to the debts, contracts, liabilities, or torts of the person entitled to
such benefits. If any Director or beneficiary hereunder should become bankrupt
or attempt to anticipate, alienate, sell, assign, pledge, encumber, or charge
any right or benefit hereunder, then such right or benefit shall, in the
discretion of the Compensation Committee, cease and terminate, and in such
event, the Company may hold or apply the same or any part hereof for the benefit
of the Director or beneficiary, his/her spouse, children, or other dependents,
or any of them in such manner and in such proportion as the Compensation
Committee may deem proper.

Section 7.  Amendment or Termination of Plan.

     The Board of Directors of the Company may amend or terminate the Plan at
any time; provided, however, that the percentage which has been or will be
credited to a Director's account in accordance with Section 5(b) shall not
change and the rights of a Director or beneficiary to commence or continue
distributions from the Deferred Compensation Ledger (including its valuation)
shall not be affected.
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     1.  Amended through November 1, 1985.
     2.  Amendments to Sections 4 and 5 adopted effective as of October 1, 1987.
     3.  Amendment to Section 7 adopted October 29, 1988.

                                      (3)