NACD Recognizes Corporate Directors for Exemplary Boardroom Leadership

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) today announced that Jon F. Hanson is the 2011 honoree for the B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award and Jenne K. Britell, Ph.D. is the 2011 Director of the Year. Mr. Hanson and Dr. Britell will be honored at the NACD 2011 Directorship 100 Forum Gala, November 8, 2011, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

"Jon and Jenne are role models for director professionalism and really set the standard for exemplary board service. We are pleased that their peers have chosen to honor them in this way," said Kenneth Daly, president and CEO of NACD. "They both bring a wealth of experience from the front lines of company management to years in the boardroom to be true assets on the boards they serve."

Jon F. Hanson has provided decades of distinguished boardroom service. He is chairman and founder of The Hampshire Companies, non-executive chairman of HealthSouth, chairman of Pascack Community Bank, a director of Yankee Global Enterprises and chairman emeritus of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc. His past directorships include serving as lead director for Prudential Financial, Inc. and as a director of CD&L. He is an honorary director of Hackensack University Medical Center after more than 20 years of service on their board of directors.

Hanson was selected as this year's honoree for "exhibiting the highest standards of integrity, ethics and courageous leadership under difficult circumstances and for the prioritization of stakeholder interests." According to his nomination. Hanson has been cited by his peers as being a leading proponent of excellent corporate governance and director accountability. As a pioneer in innovative board practices, he promoted the close correlation between good governance and good performance for HealthSouth and other companies.

"For Jon, it all boils down to integrity. He has said that if you don't believe your management team has integrity, it is time to change. His belief in that principle has helped him make tough decisions in guiding troubled companies," said Jay Grinney, CEO of HealthSouth Corporation, who has worked with Mr. Hanson. "Jon has pushed for accountability and worked for consensus on every board he has served."  

Jenne K. Britell, Ph.D., is a senior managing director of Brock Capital, LLC, an advisory and investment banking firm. Additionally, she is non-executive chairman of United Rentals, Inc., the world's largest equipment rental company. Dr. Britell has a long and illustrious history of independent board service to public companies and preeminent organizations, including current positions on the boards of Crown Holdings, Inc., Quest Diagnostics, the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, the U.S. Russia Foundation for Entrepreneurship and the Rule of Law, and the Santa Fe Institute board of trustees. Prior directorships include service to Lincoln National Corp, West Pharmaceutical Services, Aames Investment Corporation, and the TIAA-CREF board of trustees. Dr. Britell's executive credentials include senior positions with GE Capital, Dime Bancorp, Inc., HomePower, Inc., Citicorp, and Republic New York Corporation. Earlier, she was the founding chairman and chief executive officer of the Polish-American Mortgage Bank in Warsaw, the first private mortgage bank in postwar Poland.

Dr. Britell was selected as this year's honoree for her outstanding business integrity and leadership qualities in the boardroom, as well as her ability to apply her financial expertise to complex, strategic decision making. She was nominated by her peers for "her intelligence, her insight and her sense of responsibilities on a corporate board." Additionally, Dr. Britell has been recognized for never shying away from difficult tasks while adhering to the highest ethical standards.

"Jenne believes that integrity is instrumental to success, and she is adept at encouraging ethical leadership. She has a truly transformative effect on the organizations she serves," said Frank Aquila, senior partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, who has worked with Dr. Britell. "While Jenne has worked with some of the most significant corporate leaders in recent memory, including Jack Welch and Dick Parsons, the value of her perspective extends beyond even those experiences. Jenne has an expert understanding of the economic and corporate governance environments, and she is very effective at translating that into meaningful advice at the board level."

For more than two decades, the NACD Director of the Year and B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement awards have recognized distinguished individual directors who serve as role models in promoting exemplary board leadership, oversight excellence, and courage in the boardroom. Nominees are evaluated on four key categories: integrity, mature confidence, informed judgment, and high performance standards. Then, an independent selection committee reviews the nominees' proven ability to advance board performance and corporate governance excellence in accordance with established NACD principles. The principles are a framework advocating leading practices in areas including risk oversight, corporate strategy, compensation, and transparency.

About NACD

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is the only membership organization delivering the information and insights that corporate board members need to confidently confront complex business challenges and enhance shareowner value. With more than 11,000 members, NACD advances exemplary board leadership. NACD is focused on creating more effective and efficient boards through director-led education and peer forums to share ideas and leading practices based on more than 30 years of primary research. Fostering collaboration among directors and governance stakeholders, NACD is shaping the future of board leadership. To learn more about NACD, visit NACDonline.org. To join, please contact Kelly Dodd at [email protected] or 202-380-1891.

Contact:
Henry Stoever, Chief Marketing Officer
National Association of Corporate Directors
202-572-2102

SOURCE National Association of Corporate Directors