<PAGE>
 
                                                                 Amended Through
                                                                October 29, 1988


                                                                       COMPOSITE
                                                                       ---------

                                1985 SUPPLEMENT
                                      TO
                             THE MEAD CORPORATION
                   DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN FOR DIRECTORS*
                   -----------------------------------------

     WHEREAS, The Mead Corporation Deferred Compensation Plan for Directors
("Plan") was established for compensation earned on and after January 1, 1982,
for the benefit of eligible Directors; and

     WHEREAS, the Plan has been amended on prior occasions; and 

     WHEREAS, it is currently desirable to supplement the Plan effective August
1, 1985 (the "Effective Date"). 

     NOW THEREFORE, with respect only to amounts on the Deferred Compensation
Ledger on the Effective Date, amounts of 1985 earned compensation for which a
deferral election is in force on the Effective Date under Plan Section 4, and
amounts of compensation deferral permitted under this Supplement, the following
provisions determine Director rights and Company obligations under the Plan. All
other provisions of the Plan, to the extent not in conflict with this
Supplement, shall continue in effect.

     (1)  Amounts covered under the terms of this Supplement shall, on and
after the Effective Date, be maintained in a separate record (hereinafter
referred to as the "Supplemental Ledger").

     (2)  Contributions of an equal percentage of each compensation payment
earned during 1986 may be made to the Plan through December 31, 1986.
Participation through compensation deferral shall include annual retainer and
meeting fees but exclude expense reimbursement.

     (3)  The Director shall elect, on or before September 30, 1985, that all or
a portion of his/her account in the Supplemental Ledger be distributed under
Option A or under Option B or be divided between them.

          (a)  OPTION A - The Director or his/her Beneficiary will receive 
     fifteen (15 level annuity payments from his/her account in the Supplemental
     Ledger commencing on the January 2 next following his/her Termination Date
     or such later January 2 as shall have been chosen by the Director, but not
     later than the January 2 of the Year following the year in which he/she
     becomes or would have become age 72, the date chosen by him/her being
     hereafter referred to as the "Annuity Starting Date."

          (b) OPTION B - Commencement, method, and duration will be the same as
     under Option A, except that four (4) additional annual payments commencing
     on January 3, 1993 (hereinafter referred to in the aggregate as the "Annual
     Payments"), shall be paid to the Director. The Annual Payments shall reduce
     the amount otherwise payable to the Director or his/her Beneficiary on
     his/her Annuity Starting Date in accordance with Option A. Each annual
     installment of a Director's Annual Payments shall be equal to the pro rata
     amount designated for Option B of the total of (i) amounts that were in the
     Deferred Compensation Ledger on the Effective Date, (ii) amounts of 1985
     earned compensation for which a deferred election is in force on the
     Effective Date, and (iii) amounts of compensation deferral elected under
     the terms of this Supplement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no payment of
     an annual installment of a Director's Annual Payments shall be made if such
     installment coincides with or follows a Director's Annuity Starting Date.
     Any annual installment of a Director's Annual Payments not made in
     accordance with the preceding sentence shall be included in valuing the
     Supplemental Ledger in accordance with (4) below.

-----------------------

     *This is a composite of the 1985 Supplement to The Mead Corporation
     Deferred Compensation Plan for Directors, reflecting the supplement and all
     amendments adopted through October 29, 1988. The Mead Corporation Deferred
     Compensation Plan for Directors is set forth in a separate document.

<PAGE>
 
     Except as otherwise provided, election of Option A or Option B under the 
foregoing paragraph shall be irrevocable and may not be subsequently changed.

     Notwithstanding the Director's election of Option A or Option B, if this 
Supplement is terminated prior to, or if his/her Termination Date for reasons 
other than death or disability, precedes his/her 55th birthday, distribution of 
his/her account in the Supplemental Ledger shall be made in one lump sum payment
on or before the last day of the month next following the date of such 
occurrence.  If the Director's Termination Date occurs due to death or 
disability prior to his/her 55th birthday and the value of his/her account on 
such Termination Date is less than $50,000, such account shall also be so 
distributed in one lump sum.  If the Director dies on or after his/her Annuity 
Starting Date, remaining annuity installments, if any, shall continue to be 
paid from the Plan.  In all cases of death, a lump sum payment or a commencement
or continuation of a level annuity shall be to the Beneficiary designated 
pursuant to Section 5(d) of the Plan. 

     An Annuity Starting Date and/or the number of installments chosen by 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 Participant's designated Beneficiary may be changed by the
Compensation Committee on the same basis as set forth in this paragraph.

     In the event the Termination Date of a Director who has elected Option B 
occurs (for reasons other than death or disability) before receipt of all the 
Annual Payments to which the Director is entitled, remaining payments to which 
the Director or his/her Beneficiary shall be entitled shall be calculated as if 
the Director had elected Option A.  If such Director shall have received one or
more but not all of the Annual Payments, his/her Supplemental Ledger account 
shall be valued pursuant to (4) below as if it had been reduced on the Effective
Date by the Effective Date value of Annual Payments received (discounted at
Basic plus Option B Incremental Rate) and credited thereafter with the Basic
plus Option A Incremental Rate. In the event the Termination Date of such a
Director precedes receipt of all Annual Payments because of death or disability,
or in the event all Annual Payments are not made due to coincidence with annuity
payments on or after the Annuity Starting Date, the Director or Beneficiary
shall receive payments from the Supplemental Ledger valued at the Basic plus
Option B Incremental Rate less any Annual Payments received by the Director.

     (4)  Except as provided below, the Director's Supplemental Ledger account 
shall be valued on the Annuity Starting Date or earlier distribution date if 
applicable, according to whichever of the following (a) or (b) produces the 
highest value:

          (a)  as if all amounts had remained in the Deferred Compensation 
     Ledger on the Effective Date in their separate accounts established
     pursuant to Section 5(a) of the Plan and were credited pursuant to Plan
     Section 5(b) in the absence of this Supplement; or

          (b)  by crediting the Director's Supplemental Ledger account each Year
     (with pro rata adjustment for partial years) with a percentage equal to the
     nine-month average composite yield on 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 Calendar Year preceding the year such
     percentage is credited (hereinafter referred to as the "Basic Rate"), PLUS
     a percentage (hereinafter referred to as the "Incremental Rate") based on
     the Director's age on the Effective Date and his/her choice of Option A or
     Option B according to the following table:

                               Incremental Rate

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
              Age             Option A           Option B
              ---             --------           --------
          <S>                 <C>                <C>

          39 and under           4%                  7%
          40-44                  5%                  8%
          45-49                  7%                  9%
          50-54                  8%                 10%
          55-59                 11%                 11%
          60 and over           12%                 --
</TABLE>

                                      (2)

<PAGE>
 
     In no event, however, shall the valuation reflect the addition of the 
Incremental Rate to the Basic Rate if the Director's Termination Date (for 
reasons other than death or disability) precedes his/her 55th birthday, or if 
prior to his/her 55th birthday, a distribution is made to a Director due to 
adverse tax or economic consequences.

     (5) All level annuities paid under this Supplement shall be computed using 
an interest rate percentage equal to an average of the valuation percentages 
credited under (4) above during the three-year period immediately preceding the 
Year in which the first annuity payment is made to a Director.

     (6) Except as provided in (7) below, the Board of Directors of the Company 
may amend or terminate the Plan or this Supplement as provided in Section 7 of 
the Plan.

     (7) Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, in no event, 
including but not limited to termination or amendment of the Plan or Supplement 
or liquidation or reorganization of the Company:

          (a) shall a Director who has not reached his/her 55th birthday receive
     less than the amount credited to the Director's Supplemental Ledger account
     with interest at the Basic Rate, or the total amounts credited to his/her
     Deferred Compensation Ledger accounts as provided in (4)(a) above, if
     greater;

          (b) shall the Basic Rate and Incremental Rate of interest which has
     been or will be credited to the account of a Director who has reached
     his/her 55th birthday, or the interest rate percentage for level annuities
     provided in (5) above, be changed unless the tax laws of the United States
     change to increase the cost of the Incremental Rate to the Company in which
     event the Incremental Rate may be adjusted only to the extent necessary to
     reflect such change in cost, nor shall the rights of the Director or
     Beneficiary to commence or continue distributions from the Supplemental
     Ledger (including its valuation) be affected.

--------------------

     1. Adopted effective August 1, 1985.
     2. Amendments to Section (3) and (5) adopted effective as of October 1, 
        1987.

                                      (3)