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Howard Leadership "Conversations" Feature Nation's Top CEOs and Executives
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WASHINGTON (Feb. 11) -- Two alumni have brought together some of the world’s most important and influential CEOs and executives for an extraordinary eight-week lecture series at Howard University in which they explore what it means to be a leader.
The Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy, which was established by government and business leader Gwendolyn King and her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Colbert King, is sponsoring the series, “Conversations on Leadership.”
Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup and former chairman and CEO of Time Warner, organized the series and recruited the speakers.
The speakers include Parsons, Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express, Ursula Burns, chairwoman and CEO of Xerox, and Vernon Jordan, Jr., a senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC and Howard Board Trustee.
During the Wednesday sessions, students and University members will learn the theories of leadership, the skills and traits associated with great leaders and a frame of reference for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of various leaders' actions in differing contexts.
Richard Parsons, chairman of Citibank and former chair of Time Warner, laid out his prescription for what makes a leader during the first session Wednesday, Feb. 9, in the Gallery Room in Blackburn Center. Parsons organized the sessions, which are 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. through April 13 at various locations at the University.
About the speakers:
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Richard
Parsons began his career as legal counsel to New York Gov. Nelson
Rockefeller, and was later managing partner of the New York law firm Patterson,
Belknap, Webb & Tyler. He was then named chief operating officer
of the Dime Bank, one of the largest thrift institutions in the United
States. He later joined Time Warner as president, and eventually became
CEO in 2002. Parsons was named chairman in 2003 and remained until
2008. He also has served on a number of boards and commissions including
the Mayor's Commission on Economic Opportunity in New York, the Apollo
Theatre Foundation, and the boards of Howard University, the Museum of
Modern Art, Citigroup and Estée Lauder. Parsons has also
served as an economic advisor to President Barack Obama. Parsons was appointed
the first holder of the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair
in Public Policy at Howard University.
| Date:
2/9/2011 |
Location:
Blackburn
Center,
Gallery
Lounge |
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Ted
Chin
is the former chairman and chief strategic officer of Ted Chin & Company,
Inc., a strategic marketing/advertising company he founded in 1974. Clients
included domestic and international companies, including several Fortune
500 companies. Prior to founding his own company, Chin was a vice
president at Publicis, a French advertising and communications company..
After selling his company in 2007, Chin became a senior advisor to several
former client companies. More recently, Chin became an advisor to Teton
Advisors, an affiliate of the investment firm Gabelli & Co.
| Date:
2/16/2011 |
Location:
Browsing
Room
in Founder's
Library |
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Ursula
Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer
intern and later assumed roles in product development and planning. From
1992 through 2000, Burns led several business teams. In 2000, she was named
senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services, heading up manufacturing
and supply chain operations. She then took on the broader role of leading
Xerox's global research as well as product development, marketing and delivery.
In April 2007, Burns was named president of Xerox, expanding her leadership
to also include the company's IT organization, corporate strategy, human
resources, corporate marketing and global accounts. Burns was named chief
executive officer in July 2009 and assumed the role of chairman of the company
on May 20, 2010. Burns has also served as a board member of the Rochester
Business Alliance, American Express, Boston Scientific Corporation, and
the University of Rochester. Burns was named by President Barack Obama
to help lead the White House national program on STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math) and was appointed vice chair of the President’s
Export Council.
| Date:
2/23/2011 |
Location:
Browsing
Room
in Founder's
Library |
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Valerie
B. Jarrett is senior advisor and assistant to President Barack
Obama for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement. Prior to her
current position, she served as co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential
Transition Team, and senior advisor to Obama's presidential campaign. Prior
to joining Obama, Jarrett was president and chief executive officer of The
Habitat Company, a real estate development firm. Jarrett served for eight
years in Chicago government as deputy corporation counsel for Finance and
Development, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley and commissioner
of the Department of Planning and Development. Before her city government
service, Ms. Jarrett practiced law with two private law firms.
| Date:
3/2/2011 |
Location:
School
of Business
Auditorium |
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Vernon
Jordan, Jr. (J.D. ’60) is a senior managing director of Lazard
Frères & Co. LLC in New York, a member of the Howard University
Board of Trustees and an annual member of the Rankin Chapel Speakers Series
in Cramton Auditorium. Prior to joining Lazard, Jordan was a senior executive
partner with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, where
he remains senior counsel. Jordan has served as president and
chief executive officer of the National Urban League, Inc., executive director
of the United Negro College Fund, Inc.; and director of the Voter Education
Project of the Southern Regional Council. Jordan’s corporate
and other directorships include American Express Company (senior advisor),
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., Howard University (trustee), Lazard Ltd;
Xerox Corporation, and International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold.
| Date:
3/9/2011 |
Location:
School
of Business
Auditorium |
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Kenneth
Chenault is one the first African Americans to become the chief
executive officer of a Fortune 500 firm. Chenault rose through the ranks
of American Express, a $19 billion company, at a time when employee diversity
was of negligible concern. He was appointed as chief operating officer in
1997 and CEO in 2001. Before American Express, Chenault was a management
consultant with Bain & Co. and an attorney with Rogers & Wells.
Chenault serves on the boards of several other corporate and nonprofit organizations,
including IBM, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health and the National
Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
| Date: 3/23/2011
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Location:
Browsing Room,
Founders Library |
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Joel
Klein is
former chancellor
of New York
City schools,
which has
1,600 schools
with 1.1 million
students,
136,000 employees,
and a $21-billion
operating
budget. Klein
was formerly
chairman and
CEO of Bertelsmann,
Inc., and
chief U.S.
liaison officer
to Bertelsmann
AG, an international
media company.
Klein has
been an assistant
attorney general
in charge
of the U.S.
Department
of Justice’s
antitrust
division,
Acting Assistant
Attorney General
and the antitrust
division’s
principal
Deputy Assistant
Attorney General,
and deputy
counsel to
President
Bill Clinton.
Klein
has served
as chairman
of the board
of the Green
Door, a pioneer
community-based
treatment
program for
mentally ill
residents
of the District
of Columbia,
and as treasurer
of the World
Federation
for Mental
Health. He
has also served
on the board
of several
non-profit
organizations,
including
the National
Symphony Orchestra
Association.
| Date:
3/30/2011 |
Location:
Browsing Room,
Founders Library |
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Lonnie
G. Bunch, historian, author, curator and educator, is the founding
director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History
and Culture. Bunch was previously president of the Chicago Historical Society,
where he led the museum through a reorganization and capital campaign. Bunch
has spent nearly 30 years in the museum field where he is regarded as one
of the nation’s leading figures in the cultural-historical community. He
has held several positions at the Smithsonian. As the National Museum of
American History’s associate director for Curatorial Affairs, he oversaw
the curatorial and collections management staff of nearly 200 in addition
to leading the curatorial team that developed the major permanent exhibition
“American Presidency: A Glorious Burden.” He was an education specialist
at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where he developed multi-cultural
instructional programs and researched and wrote the history of African Americans
in aviation.
| Date:
4/6/2011 |
Location:
Browsing Room,
Founders Library |
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Gwendolyn
Stewart King (B.A.’62) served as a commissioner of the Social
Security Administration and as a director of Monsanto Company, Marsh &
McLennan Companies and Lockheed Martin Corporation. |
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Colbert
King (B. A. ’61) is a columnist for The Washington Post.
In 2003, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for what the committee called
his “against the grain columns that speak to people in power with
ferocity and wisdom.”The Kings established the chair to reflect their
years in public service and the media. |
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