Yale School of Management Renames Corporate Governance Center in Honor of Ira M. Millstein; Announces The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance

New Haven, Conn., November 8, 2006—Yale School of Management Dean Joel M. Podolny today announced that the Yale Center for Corporate Governance and Performance has been renamed The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management in honor of corporate governance expert Ira M. Millstein. Millstein, a senior partner at the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is also senior associate dean for corporate governance at Yale SOM.

The announcement coincides with Millstein’s birthday. He is 80 years old today.

“Ira Millstein’s reputation in the field of corporate governance is unmatched,” said Podolny. “He has brought tremendous innovation and real-world insight to the Center and it has flourished under his leadership. In recognition of his tireless effort and dedication, Yale University President Richard C. Levin and I agreed that it is only fitting that the Center bear his name.”

“For decades, through his writing and teaching, Ira Millstein has helped to define best practices in corporate governance,” said President Levin. “In recognition of his contributions, the Yale School of Management is proud to name its Center for Corporate Governance and Performance in his honor.”

Millstein was integral in launching the Center, which was established in June 2006 with the receipt of $20 million in gifts and commitments from individual and corporate donors. The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance is one of several unique multidisciplinary centers at the Yale School of Management. In keeping with Yale SOM’s mission of educating leaders for business and society, the mission of the Center is to explore the role of corporate governance to better enable corporations both to be competitive in their markets and to contribute to society. While based at Yale’s business school, the Center also draws together scholars from Yale Law School and a variety of disciplines at Yale and other universities to explore enhanced corporate governance and the roles of the corporation in society; to facilitate the interaction of these scholars with policymakers and business leaders; to promote the dissemination of ideas and research that are relevant to improving the ability of the corporation to serve society; and to look globally for models of governance that combine return to shareholders and social benefit.

Commenting on the announcement, John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group and a member of the Center’s Advisory Board said, “Ira was among the very first leaders of the corporate governance movement and I think it is eminently fitting that the Yale School of Management has honored him by placing his name on the Center.”

Fellow board member Anne Simpson, executive director of the International Corporate Governance Network, added, “Ira has traveled the world over teaching about corporate governance, always questioning, always learning, always encouraging. Yale is home. His vision for a corporate governance center has been fulfilled, and will be a beacon internationally. Ira’s towering reputation in the field has brought together a wonderful array of support from academia, the private sector and policy makers.”

Millstein, who is also the Eugene F. Williams Jr. Visiting Professor in Competitive Enterprise and Strategy at the Yale School of Management, is a leading authority and frequent lecturer and author on corporate governance. A graduate of Columbia Law School and an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Millstein has counseled numerous boards on corporate governance issues, including the boards of General Motors, Westinghouse, Bethlehem Steel, WellChoice, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), Tyco International, The Walt Disney Co., and the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Among his many publications, he is the co-author of The Recurrent Crisis in Corporate Governance (published by Palgrave in 2003, and in a paperback edition by Stanford University Press in 2004). In 2001 he received the first Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance given by the International Corporate Governance Network.

Colleagues at the Yale School of Management spoke of Millstein’s vision and enthusiasm for the Center and for improving corporate governance. Professor Jonathan Koppell, the Center’s director, said, “The name Ira Millstein is synonymous with good corporate governance. Ira has provided the vision and the energy for the Center. His commitment to integrating real-world experience and the highest caliber academic research anchors everything we are doing.”

Current projects of The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance include: a roundtable on The Role of the Corporation in Society to be held December 8, 2006; The China Policy Dialogue on Corporate Governance, a joint event with the OECD scheduled for February 2007 will examine the role of the board in state-owned enterprises in China; Bridging the Governance Gap, also with the OECD, will investigate the changing nature of ownership of corporations worldwide through a series of high-level roundtables around the world as well as an initial seminar on changes to the capital market entitled “How to Raise Capital: 25 Years Ago and Today”; and Shareholders and Corporate Governance, a joint conference with Oxford University’s Said Business School scheduled for October 19-20, 2007, will examine how differing law and regulation in the U.S. and U.K. affect the incentives and abilities to engage in active corporate governance.

For more information on The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management, please visit: http://millstein.som.yale.edu/

Contact: Tabitha Wilde, Associate Director, Media Relations
203-432-6010; tabitha.wilde@yale.edu