The Most Influential People in Corporate Governance

Each year, the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Directorship magazine publishes the Directorship 100 list, which seeks to identify “the most influential people in the boardroom community, including directors, corporate governance experts, journalists, regulators, academics and counselors.” A review of this year’s list indicates that, as in prior years, individuals affiliated with Harvard Law School and its Program on Corporate Governance play a central role in the corporate governance landscape.

This year’s Directorship 100 list includes 39 individuals who are Harvard Law School faculty or fellows, guest contributors to the Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, and/or Harvard Law School alumni. The “Harvard 39” (with graduation year in parenthesis for those who are HLS alumni) are as follows:

• HLS faculty and fellows: Professor Lucian Bebchuk (‘80) and Program on Corporate Governance Senior Fellow Chancellor Leo Strine, Jr. Professor Bebchuk has been on the Directorship list in each of the five years since the inception of the list in 2007, and Chancellor Strine has been on the list since 2008.
• Program on Corporate Governance Advisory Board members: William Ackman and Richard C. Breeden
• Guest contributors to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation: Luis A. Aguilar (‘78), Robert Bennett (’65), Carol Bowie, William B. Chandler III, James Copland, Steven Davidoff, James Doty, Daniel Gallagher, Gary Gensler, Amy Goodman, Holly Gregory, Joseph Grundfest, Carl Icahn, Brad Karp (’84), David Katz, Arthur Kohn, David F. Larcker, James McRitchie, Charles Nathan, John F. Olson (‘64), Troy A. Paredes, Marc S. Rosenberg (‘83), Mary Schapiro, Anne Sheehan, Larry Sonsini, Adair Turner, Elisse B. Walter (‘74), and Ann Yerger.
• Harvard Law School alumni: Robert Bennett (‘65), Roger Ferguson (‘79), Jack Jacobs (’67), Ellen Moskowitz (’88), Jed Rakoff (’69), Jeffrey Rudman (’75), and Eric Schneiderman (’82)

The full Directorship 100 list is available here.