Corporate governance series kicks off April 8

2:12 p.m., April 7, 2004--The nation’s leading corporate governance experts will visit the University of Delaware for a series of panel discussions this spring in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

The discussions are part of an undergraduate course offered by Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, who himself is a prominent expert in the field.

Sessions will meet from 9:30-10:45 a.m., on selected Tuesdays and Thursdays in 125 Alfred Lerner Hall. Members of the campus community and the public are invited to attend, and if interested should call the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at 831-6157.

“The series will provide UD students and members of the community access to the insights of corporate executives, nationally recognized academics, business journalists and judges on issues including executive compensation, dissident directors and corporate governance guidelines and reforms,” Elson said.

Corporate governance guidelines will be the topic on Thursday, April 8.

Panelists include Geoff Colvin, editorial director of Fortune magazine; Richard Breeden, founder of Richard C. Breeden & Co.; John Biggs, former chairman and chief executive officers of TIAA-CREF; Michael Emen, senior vice president of the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Department; Ted Jadick, vice chairman of Heidrick & Struggles; Robert S. Miller, former chief executive officer of Bethlehem Steel; Howard Sherman, chief executive officer of GovernanceMetrics International; Justice Myron Steele of the Delaware Supreme Court; and Carol Ward, corporate secretary and compliance officer for CIGNA.

On Thursday, April 29, panelists will discuss Enron and resulting corporate governance reforms.

Panelists include Colvin; William Crist, former chairman of the California Public Employees Retirement System; Larry Harris, chief economist for the Securities and Exchange Commission; Justice Jack Jacobs of the Delaware Supreme Court; Jerry Levin, chairman and chief executive officer of American Household; Bob May, interim chief executive officer of HealthSouth; Carl McCall, former comptroller of the State of New York; and Shaun O’Malley, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., or Freddie Mac

The role of the dissident director will be the topic of the final discussion in the series, scheduled Tuesday, May 11.

Panelists include George Cloutier, chief executive officer of American Management Systems; William Crowley, president and chief operating officers of ESL Investments; Stanley Gold, president and chief executive officer of Shamrock Holdings; David Ikenberry, professor of finance and chair of the department and the University of Illinois; Vice Chancellor Stephen Lamb of the Delaware Court of Chancery; Joann Lublin, journalist with the Wall Street Journal; Steve Odland, chief executive officer of AutoZone and chair of the Business Roundtable’s Corporate Governance Committee; and Ralph Whitworth, founder of Relational Investors LLC.

Article by Neil Thomas

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