New Faces In Executive Suites - African-American executives in top posts at major U.S. companies

Ebony, Jan, 2000 by Lynn Norment

OVER the last five years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of African-American executives appointed to top posts at major U.S. companies. In November, A. Barry Rand was named chairman and CEO of Avis Rent A Car. He had been an executive vice president at Xerox Corporation, where he worked for 31 years. In April 1999, American Express CEO Harvey Golub confirmed that Kenneth I. Chenault would succeed him as CEO when Golub retires in 2001. Chenault is now president and chief operating officer of the company for which he has worked since 1981. And last August Lloyd D. Ward assumed the post of chairman and CEO of Maytag Corp.

Prior to these appointments and announcements, Franklin D. Raines, the former White House budget director who is now chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, stood alone as the only Black head of a Fortune 500 company.

In addition, during the past five years a number of African-Americans have been named president of subsidiaries, groups or divisions of giant corporations. They join the ranks of Richard Parsons, president of Time Warner Inc.; Ann M. Fudge, president of Kraft Foods' Maxwell House and Post Division; Carl Ware, president of the Africa Group for The Coca-Cola Co. (who has announced he will retire); and George R. Lewis, president and CEO of the Philip Morris Capital Corporation.

Of the 27 recently appointed executives featured here, only six are women. They include Brenda J. Gaines, who last fall was appointed president of Citicorp Diners Club North America; and Joset Wright, who in October was named president of Ameritech Illinois. A recent survey found that women in the top ranks at major corporations increased 37 percent since 1995. Blacks and Hispanics fill fewer than 2 percent of executive positions in the U.S.

* A. Barry Rand recently was appointed chairman and CEO of Avis Rent A Car, which had revenues of $1.9 billion in the first nine months of 1999. In 1998, Rand resigned from his position as executive vice president, operations, for the Xerox Corporation, where he had excelled during a 31-year career. He and his family live in Stamford, Conn.

* Lloyd D. Ward in August 1999 was appointed chairman and CEO of Maytag Corporation, a leading manufacturer of home and commercial appliances. In 1998 the company's annual sales were more than $4 billion. Ward, a member of Maytag's board, joined the company in 1996 as executive vice president and president of Maytag Appliances. He had worked at PepsiCo since 1988 and rose through the ranks to the position of president of Frito-Lay's Central Division. Maytag is based in Newton, Iowa.

* Kenneth I. Chenault is president and chief operating officer of American Express Company, where he has responsibility for all of the company's business units with primary focus on implementing an integrated strategy to achieve growth. He is slated to assume the position of CEO of American Express in April 2001, and chairman in 2002. In designating Chenault to succeed him, American Express CEO Harvey Golub said: "Ken is an outstanding leader who has continually taken on more responsibilities and consistently executed those responsibilities well. He is exceptional--both as an executive and as a person."

* Franklin D. Raines is chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It is also the nation's largest provider of home mortgage financing and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In spring of 1998, Raines resigned from his post as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget to return to Fannie Mae, where he had served as vice chairman prior to his White House appointment. He assumed his current position in January 1999.

* Brenda J. Gaines is president of Citicorp Diners Club North America, a division of Citigroup and a key franchise in the global $33 billion Citigroup Diners Club International. Gaines also serves on the Diners Club International Global Board, and she has held a number of positions with Diners Club and Citicorp over the years. Prior to joining the company, she served as deputy chief of staff to Chicago's Mayor Harold Washington.

* Stacey J. Mobley was appointed general council of DuPont in November. He already held the titles of senior vice president and chief administrative officer of the $27 billion global science company. He is a member of DuPont's seven-member Office of the Chief Executive, and has responsibility for legal matters and . for strategic direction and operations of all the company's businesses. He also oversees safety, health and environmental affairs, governmental and public affairs, and company operations in the Americas region. Mobley joined DuPont in 1972 and resides in Delaware.

SILAS L. NICHOLS is president of the Manufacturing Industry & Robotics Group of ABB Flexible Automation Inc., based in New Berlin, Wis. ABB Flexible Automation is a world leader in providing robot-based automation solutions to companies. ABB is an international company with more than 200,000 employees in 140 countries.