Top black corporate directors

Ebony, Jan, 1997

Working behind the scenes, directors who sit on the powerful boards of major American corporations influence decisions that affect the lives of everyday people who use the products and services of those companies.

According to a recent survey of corporate boards by Ebony and Directorship, a corporate research firm, there has been a significant increase in the number of African-Americans who sit on prestigious public Fortune 1000 company boards. Since 1994, the number has increased from 148 Black corporate directors to a total of 179 today, according to Directorship. In 1987, there were 80 Black directors.

Powerful Washington, D.C., attorney Vernon Jordan and his wife, Ann Dibble Jordan, sit on the boards of a total of 11 major corporations. Jordan, a close friend and advisor to President Bill Clinton, sits on the boards of six Fortune companies, while Ann Dibble Jordan is a director at five companies.

While the Jordans continue to be the first couple of corporate boards, for the first time the top position is held by Claudine B. Malone, president of Financial & Management Consulting Inc. based in McLean, Va., outside Washington, D. C. Malone sits on the boards of eight Fortune corporations, more than any other African-American director.

The No. 2 position is held by Andrew Brimmer, former governor of the Federal Reserve System who now heads a Washington, D.C.-based economic and financial consulting firm, and Dr. Louis Sullivan, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine, both of whom sit on seven boards. The Rev. William H. Gray, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, and H. Jesse Arnelle, a prominent attorney in San Francisco, are members of six Fortune corporate boards.

Peter Garrett, senior vice president of Directorship, says over the past two years compensation for directors has increased just above 3 percent to 4 percent while the mix of compensation between cash and stock has changed more dramatically. About 40 percent of Fortune 1000 public companies now grant stock options, whereas about a year ago 30 percent granted stock options. Traditional cash-based retirement accounts have declined by more than 20 percent.

However, those who sit on the boards of major corporations are paid hefty fees for their time and expertise. Annual retainers range from as high as $50,000 to $100,000, while directors may be paid as much as $7,000 for each board meeting they attend. Some corporate directors reap more than #300,000 a year from their board obligations.

The recent survey also indicates that board members with executive, government and legal backgrounds increased significantly in the past two years, while the number of those with academic and financial backgrounds remained about the same.

On the following pages are some of the African-American men and women who sit on at least three boards of Fortune 1000 companies.

The No. 1 Black director is Claudine B. Malone, president and CEO of Financial & Management Consulting Inc., who sits on the boards of eight Fortune companies. Dr. Louis Sullivan and Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer both serve on the boards of seven Fortune corporations.

Top Black couple in corporate world is Washington, D.C., powerbroker Vernon Jordan, who sits on six boards, and his wife, Ann Dibble Jordan, a member of five corporate boards.

William H. Gray III, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, sits on the boards of Chase Manhattan Corp., Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Rockwell International Corp., Union Pacific Corp., Warner-Lambert Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Bonnie Guiton Hill, dean of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., sits on the boards of AK Steel Holding Corporation, Crestar Financial Corp., Hershey Foods Corp., Louisiana-Pacific Corp., and Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.

Barbara Scott Preiskel, an attorney in New York City and former senior vice president and general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, serves on the boards of American Stores Co., General Electric Co., Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Textron Inc., and the Washington Post Co.

Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine in New York, sits on the boards of AMR Corp., Aetna Inc., Chrysler Corp., Federated Department Stores Inc., and Rohm and Haas Co.

John Brooks Slaughter, president of Occidental College in Los Angeles, sits on the boards of Atlantic Richfield Co., Avery Dennison Corp., IBM Corp., Monsanto Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Clifford L. Alexander, president, Alexander & Associates, is a board member of American Home Products Corp., Dun & Bradstreet Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc.

Aulana L. Peters, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm in Los Angeles, sits on the boards of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., Mobil Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Franklin A. Thomas, former president of the Ford Foundation in New York City, is on the boards of Aluminum Company of America, Citicorp, Cummins Engine Co. Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.