Ira Millstein and William Donaldson Named to Directorship Hall of Fame

The seven business leaders inducted into Directorship magazine’s inaugural Corporate Governance Hall of Fame on December 2 included two with close ties to the Yale School of Management: founding dean William H. Donaldson and Ira Millstein, senior associate dean for corporate governance and founder of the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance.

Each year, Directorship names "the most influential people in corporate governance and in the boardroom" to the Directorship 100. This year, for the first time, the 100 included a Hall of Fame, comprising "a select number of exemplary individuals who have so uniquely contributed to the shape of modern corporate governance that they deserve special recognition."

In recognizing Donaldson, the magazine cited his co-founding of investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and his tenure as chairman of the Securities and Exchange commission, as well as his leadership of Yale SOM.

The magazine said that Millstein, the senior partner at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is "a juggernaut in corporate governance," adding that he "focuses his considerable attention on capital markets in his role" at Yale SOM.

Joseph McCafferty, Directorship’s editor in chief, said in an email that "William Donaldson has such an impressive resumé that any of the four or five major positions he has held, whether it was as chairman of the SEC or CEO of the NYSE, would qualify him for selection in the Directorship 100 Hall of Fame."

"Ira Millstein," he added, "is one of the sharpest minds in the corporate governance arena and his writings and counsel have done much to redefine the role of the director. He is one of the primary architects of modern corporate governance."

"Ira Millstein and William Donaldson were obvious selections for this honor, due to the work they have done in corporate governance and the leadership they have provided to the business world in general."

John C. Bogle, a member of the advisory board of the Millstein Center, was also named to the Hall of Fame. Bogle is the founder of the Vanguard Group and a pioneer of the index fund.

The other inaugural members of the Hall of Fame are Arthur Levitt, Donaldson’s predecessor at the SEC; shareholder activist and author Robert A. G. Monks; and Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley, the U.S. senators who sponsored the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

In addition to Millstein, two other SOM faculty members are returning members of the Directorship 100: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for executive programs and Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management, was cited in the "Professors" category, and Stephen Davis, program director and lecturer at the Millstein Center, is listed in the "Networkers" category.