Corporate executive overcompensation to be topic March 14

The University of Delaware’s spring corporate governance seminar series will continue at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 14, in 125 MBNA America Hall with a panel discussion on the overcompensation of corporate executives.

Charles Elson, Edgar J. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the Center for Corporate Governance, leads the series, which is part of the course “Advanced Corporate Governance.”

The March 14 panel will feature E. Webb Bassick of the Hay Group; John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group; Jamie Heard, chief executive officer of Institutional Shareholder Services; Justice Randy Holland of the Delaware Supreme Court; Charles Yablon, professor at Cardoza Law School; and Ira Zar, chief financial officer of Computer Associates.

Members of the community are invited to attend. Please call 831-6157 in advance to make sure space is available.

Corporate democracy will be the topic March 21. Panelists will be Frank Byrd, New York City Public Employees Pension Fund; Mark Goldfus, senior vice president and general counsel, Merrill Lynch & Co.; Michael Goldman, partner, Potter Anderson & Coroon; G. Penn Holsenbeck, vice president and corporate secretary, Philip Morris; Vice Chancellor Jack Jacobs, Delaware Court of Chancery; and Mark Preisinger, director, share owner affairs, Coca-Cola.

On April 18, the topic will be shareholder litigation, and panelists will be Tom Allingham, partner, Skadden, Arps; Jay Eisenhofer, principal and founding partner, Grant & Eisenhofer; Keith Johnson, general counsel, State of Wisconsin Investment Board; Barbara Franklin, president and chief executive officer, Barbara Franklin Enterprises; Ed Labaton, partner, Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow; Walter Ricciardi, general counsel, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, Delaware Court of Chancery; and Robert Thompson, professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Corporate governance guidelines will be the topic April 25. Panelists will be Warren Anderson, attorney, General Motors; Justice Carolyn Burger, Delaware Supreme Court; Peter Clapman, general counsel, TIAA-CREF; Ken Novack, vice chairman, AOL Time Warner; Nils Okeson, partner, Alston & Bird; John Olson, senior partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

The final session May 9 will be on the role of the dissident director. Panelists will be Guy Adams, president, GWA Capital; Frank Balotti, partner, Richards, Finger & Layton; Chancellor William Chandler, Delaware Court of Chancery; Edward Lampert, chief executive officer, ESL Investments; Morris Offit, chief executive officer and founder, Offitbank; Robin Sidel, reporter, Wall Street Journal; Larry Sonsini, senior partner, Wilson Sonsini; Raymond Troubh, director or former director of a number of corporations including Enron, Time Warner and America West Airlines.

March 8, 2002