Chief Executive Leadership Institute to Honor Ian M. Cook, Chairman, President, and CEO of Colgate-Palmolive Company, with Leadership Award

New Haven, Conn., June 2, 2015— Ian M. Cook, chairman, president, and CEO of Colgate-Palmolive Company, will accept the Legend in Leadership Award of the Yale School of Management’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute at a ceremony to be held at the 25th anniversary gathering of the CEO Summit on June 3 at the New York Stock Exchange.

The award will be presented to Mr. Cook by Catherine Engelbert, CEO of Deloitte LLP. While most CEO Summit discussions are off the record, members of the press are invited to attend the award presentation to Mr. Cook at 3:00 p.m. and the final conference session to follow.

Summit organizer Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership programs at the Yale School of Management, commented:

Ian is a 40-year veteran of Colgate, whose strong, quiet leadership has been evidenced by strong financial results, responsible global employment practices, and consumer oriented innovation.  The company has continued its revered track record of uninterrupted dividends on its common stock since 1895, while delivering total shareholder returns of 147% over his seven years as CEO—or roughly 12% a year. This past year the firm continued to produce strong organic growth. With deep roots in consumer products marketing, Ian displays an uncommon personal humility, with the products center stage instead of the leaders.

Cook joined Colgate in the United Kingdom in 1976 and progressed through a series of senior marketing and management roles around the world. He became chief operating officer in 2004, with responsibility for operations in North America, Europe, Central Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 2005, he was promoted to president and chief operating officer, responsible for all Colgate operations worldwide, and was elected president and chief executive officer in 2007. He was elected director in 2007, and chairman effective January 1, 2009. Cook sits on the board of directors of PepsiCo. In addition, he serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including Catalyst, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and New Visions for Public Schools.

The Legend in Leadership Award was created 25 years ago to honor current and former CEOs who serve as living legends to inspire chief executives across industries, sectors, and nations. Past recipients include Klaus Kleinfeld of Alcoa, Jiang Jianqing of ICBC Bank, Fu Chengyu of Sinopec, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Jeff Immelt of GE, Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner, Frank Blake of Home Depot, Dave Cote of Honeywell, Ellen Kullman of DuPont, Scott Davis of UPS, Alan Mulally of Ford, Andrew Liveris of Dow, Duncan Niederauer of the NYSE, Ken Chenault of American Express, David Stern of the NBA, Ratan Tata of the TATA Group, Mike Ullman of JCPenney, Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Robert Iger of Walt Disney, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, Roger Enrico of PepsiCo, John Pepper of Procter & Gamble, Don Keough of Coca-Cola Co., McKinsey founder Marvin Bower, Jim Kelly of UPS, Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon, Richard Teerlink of Harley-Davidson, Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, financier Wilbur Ross, and Lou Gerstner of IBM.

The Summit theme is “Tacking around Headwinds: Guiding the Free Flow of Information.” Distinguished global corporate leaders from across industries will engage in lively, candid discussions at this invitation-only leaders’ conference hosted by the Yale School of Management.

Additional Summit participants include: Ashton Carter, U.S. secretary of defense; Anthony Foxx, U.S. secretary of transportation; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City; George Pataki, former governor of New York; Stephen Schwarzman, chairman & CEO of the Blackstone Group; Daniel Loeb, CEO of Third Point LLC; Wilbur Ross, chairman & CEO of WL Ross & Co.; Alan Patricof, managing director of Greycroft Partners; Lynn Tilton, CEO of Patriarch Partners; Maurice Greenberg, chairman & CEO of C.V. Starr; Myron Ullman, CEO of JCPenney; Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania; Nick Pinchuk, CEO of Snap-on Incorporated; Tom Quinlan, CEO of RR Donnelley & Sons; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; and William Donaldson, 27th chairman of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, among 120 other top leaders.

Conference partners include Deloitte, IBM, Korn Ferry, Patriarch Partners, PepsiCo, CNBC, and UPS.

The Chief Executive Leadership Institute was founded in 1989 to provide original research on top leadership and lively, current educational forums through peer-driven learning for accomplished leaders across a range of sectors. Visit the CELI website for more information. 

For an interview with Jeffrey Sonnenfeld or to register for the award presentation and final conference session, “Getting Enough Information on the Customer,” please contact Tabitha Wilde, 203-432-6010; tabitha.wilde@yale.edu, or Joe DeLillo, 202-742-4452; joseph.delillo@yale.edu.