The Society for Corporate Governance has appointed Paul Washington as its new president and CEO, effective April 15.
Washington most recently was executive director of the ESG Center at The Conference Board. In that role he led the think tank in addressing a variety of corporate governance, sustainability and corporate citizenship issues.
He was previously senior vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary at Time Warner from 2006 to 2018, having also held several other senior roles in the firm’s corporate legal department. During his time with Time Warner, he helped guide the board and the company through a series of fundamental changes, culminating in its sale to AT&T.
Before joining Time Warner, Washington was an associate at law firm Sidley Austin and formerly vice president and corporate secretary at Dime Savings Bank. Earlier in his career, he was a clerk for US Supreme Court associate justice David Souter.
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Washington won the lifetime achievement prize at Governance Intelligence’s 2018 Corporate Governance Awards. He has been active in the governance community, including serving as chair of the society in 2009-2010.
Society board chair and Edward Jones general counsel Keir Gumbs says in a statement: ‘Paul is highly regarded in the corporate governance community as a leading practitioner, a renowned expert and thinker and an outstanding leader with an impeccable reputation. He also knows us well, having been a long-term active society member and a former board member and board chair.
‘Paul will offer a strong and unified strategic vision for the society as we move forward, respecting [its] history and capitalizing on future opportunities for the benefit of our members.’
Washington says in an announcement: ‘Today, [the society’s] work is more important than ever. Boards and executives need effective governance to execute their organization’s strategy, achieve superior performance and balance the interests of their stakeholders amid a fast-changing economic, technological and regulatory landscape.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
