Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 17, 2006|Volume 35, Number 11|Two-Week Issue

Yale SOM renames center in honor of
Ira Millstein, whose vision helped launch it

The School of Management (SOM) has renamed its Center for Corporate Governance and Performance in honor of the man who played an integral role in its founding: corporate governance expert Ira M. Millstein.

The center will now be known as the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, announced SOM Dean Joel M. Podolny.

Millstein, a senior partner at the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is also senior associate dean for corporate governance at SOM. The announcement coincided with his 80th birthday.

"Ira Millstein's reputation in the field of corporate governance is unmatched," said Podolny. "He has brought tremendous innovation and real-world insight to the center and it has flourished under his leadership. In recognition of his tireless effort and dedication, President Richard C. Levin and I agreed that it is only fitting that the center bear his name."

Levin added: "For decades, through his writing and teaching, Ira Millstein has helped to define best practices in corporate governance. In recognition of his contributions, the Yale School of Management is proud to name its Center for Corporate Governance and Performance in his honor."

Millstein was integral in launching the center, which was established in June with the receipt of $20 million in gifts and commitments from individual and corporate donors. The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance is one of several multidisciplinary centers at SOM. In keeping with the school's mission of educating leaders for business and society, the center seeks to explore the role of corporate governance to better enable corporations both to be competitive in their markets and to contribute to society.

While based at Yale's business school, the center also draws together scholars from Yale Law School and a variety of disciplines at Yale and other universities to explore enhanced corporate governance and the roles of the corporation in society; to facilitate the interaction of these scholars with policymakers and business leaders; to promote the dissemination of ideas and research that are relevant to improving the ability of the corporation to serve society; and to look globally for models of governance that combine return to shareholders and social benefit.

Current projects at the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance include: a roundtable on "The Role of the Corporation in Society" to be held Dec. 8; "The China Policy Dialogue on Corporate Governance," a joint event with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), scheduled for February that will examine the role of the board in state-owned enterprises in China; "Bridging the Governance Gap," also with the OECD, which will investigate the changing nature of ownership of corporations worldwide through a series of high-level roundtables around the world as well as an initial seminar on changes to the capital market titled "How to Raise Capital: 25 Years Ago and Today"; and "Shareholders and Corporate Governance," a joint conference with Oxford University's Said Business School scheduled for Oct. 19-20, 2007, which will examine how differing law and regulation in the United States and the United Kingdom affect the incentives and abilities to engage in active corporate governance.

Millstein, who is also the Eugene F. Williams Jr. Visiting Professor in Competitive Enterprise and Strategy at SOM, has counseled numerous boards on corporate governance issues, including the boards of General Motors, Westinghouse, Bethlehem Steel, WellChoice, the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), Tyco International, The Walt Disney Co. and the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority. His many publications include "The Recurrent Crisis in Corporate Governance," which he co-authored. In 2001 he received the first Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance given by the International Corporate Governance Network.

SOM Professor Jonathan Koppell, the center's director, said: "The name Ira Millstein is synonymous with good corporate governance. Ira has provided the vision and the energy for the center. His commitment to integrating real-world experience and the highest caliber academic research anchors everything we are doing."

For more information on the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management, visit: http://millstein.som.yale.edu.

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