Marjorie Scardino Elected To Chair Macarthur Foundation Board of Directors

CHICAGO, March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Marjorie M. Scardino, Chief Executive Officer of Pearson, was elected to chair the 15-member Board of Directors of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  Scardino has served on MacArthur's Board since December 2005 and will begin her new role following the Board's June 2012 meeting.

Scardino has been CEO since 1997 of Pearson, an international education and media company headquartered in London, England.  Its businesses include Pearson Education, the world's leading learning company, The Financial Times Group, and Penguin books.  Before joining Pearson, Scardino was Chief Executive of The Economist Group and, prior to that, she was a lawyer and she and her husband founded a weekly newspaper in Georgia that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for its editorial writing.

She is also a member of the Board of Directors and Vice Chairman of Nokia Corporation, a Director of the Carter Center, a Fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recipient of a number of honorary degrees.  Scardino is a graduate of Baylor University and the University of San Francisco School of Law. 

Outgoing MacArthur Board Chair Robert Denham, a partner in the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, said, "It is wonderful for the Board, the staff, and the work of the Foundation that Marjorie Scardino has agreed to serve as Chair.  She has a keen interest in the Foundation's grantmaking strategies that are critical to the Foundation's continued impact and success and a deep understanding of finance and governance at the foundation, having served as Chair of the Budget and Compensation Committee and on the Foundation's Institutional Policy and Investment Committees."  

Denham joined MacArthur's Board in 2000 and became Chair in 2007.  Previous Chairs of the MacArthur Board include Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (2002-2007), John E. Corbally (1995-2002), Elizabeth J. McCormack (1990-1995), William T. Kirby (1989), Thornton F. Bradshaw (1986-1988), and Paul D. Doolen (1979-1984). 

MacArthur President Robert Gallucci said, "Marjorie has demonstrated her knowledge, experience, and sound judgment as an active member of the Board.  I am delighted to continue our close working relationship going forward.  We share the same values and a commitment to ensuring MacArthur's resources and expertise are applied as efficiently and effectively as possible to maximize our impact on the critical challenges facing Chicago, the nation, and the world." 

Marjorie Scardino said, "MacArthur is an organization devoted to long-term efforts to improve the human condition in ways that I believe make a measurable difference.  I'm happy to try to contribute in a small way to helping them do that work."

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.  In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.  More information is available at www.macfound.org.  

SOURCE MacArthur Foundation