NACD Launches Education Network With Leading Universities To Elevate Director Education

Rising Demands and Expectations for Directors Driving the Collaboration

News provided by

National Association of Corporate Directors

Oct 30, 2020, 11:38 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the authority on boardroom practices representing more than 21,000 corporate board members, today announced the formation of a network of leading governance education providers to better prepare current and future board directors for the rigors of the increasingly complex and challenging work of directorship. Stanford University's Rock Center for Corporate Governance, the founding member of the NACD Education Network^TM, is joined by Columbia Business School Executive Education and Drexel University's Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute.

Building on NACD Directorship Certification®, which puts directors on the leading edge of governance issues and demonstrates their commitment to the profession of directorship, the NACD Education Network enables NACD Directorship Certified™ individuals to earn recertification credits toward their certification through participation in leading director programs provided by world-class universities across the country and around the world. NACD Directorship Certification requires recertification every two years through 32 hours of continuous learning at recognized programs.

The launch of the NACD Education Network features leading director education programs such as the Stanford University Rock Center for Corporate Governance Directors' College, Columbia Business School Executive Education 's Corporate Governance Program, and Drexel's Gupta Governance Institute's Directors Dialogue.

"This is an important initiative at a critical time for business. The challenges directors—and their boards—face in today's complex environment call for education built on deep experiential insights coupled with quantitative rigor. Columbia Business School Executive Education is proud to join with NACD and the growing network of institutions around the globe to help directors meet these challenges through the highest quality continuing education available," said Shivaram Rajgopal, Kester and Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing at Columbia Business School and faculty director of the Corporate Governance Program.

Alyssa Abbott, interim director of the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute at Drexel University, added, "The economic, political, and social disruptions of this year have called attention to the increasingly complex and ever-changing role of a corporate board member. NACD's foresight to convene renowned governance institutions from leading universities underscores the tremendous value that research and scholarship bring to director education. The Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute at Drexel's LeBow College of Business is proud to be a part of the NACD Education Network to collaboratively advance and elevate the directorship profession into the future."

NACD will collaborate with leading academic institutions across the country that meet NACD's director education standards. The goal for the network is to help today's directors to enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities to discharge their duties as effectively as possible, as their companies continue to face existential challenges, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic uncertainty. The network also aims to provide a strong foundation for future directors, who increasingly come from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

"The complexity of the issues that boards face, and the speed of change, means that directors face a more challenging and competitive environment than ever before. And that means director education takes on a new urgency," said Peter R. Gleason, CEO of NACD. "Forming a network of world-class providers of executive education to pair with NACD's cutting-edge education programming and certification will help directors chart a path to future success for their companies."

Plans are underway to expand the network to include additional nationally and internationally recognized institutions. To learn more about the Education Network, visit https://certification.nacdonline.org/educationnetwork.

About NACD
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 21,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom. As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD helps boards strengthen investor trust and public confidence by ensuring that today's directors are well prepared for tomorrow's challenges. World-class boards join NACD to elevate performance, gain foresight, and instill confidence. Fostering collaboration among directors, investors, and corporate governance stakeholders, NACD has been setting the standard for responsible board leadership for 40 years. To learn more about NACD, visit www.nacdonline.org.

About The Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University
The Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance is a joint initiative of Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. The Center was created to advance the understanding and practice of corporate governance in a cross-disciplinary environment where leading academics, business leaders, policy makers, practitioners, and regulators can meet and work together. The Center is led by outstanding Faculty with active collaboration from its Advisory Board. To learn more, visit law.stanford.edu/arthur-and-toni-rembe-rock-center-for-corporate-governance.

About Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the only world-class Ivy League business school that delivers a learning experience where academic excellence meets with real-time exposure to the pulse of global business. The thought leadership of the School's faculty and staff members, combined with the accomplishments of its distinguished alumni and position in the center of global business, means that the School's efforts have an immediate, measurable impact on the forces shaping business every day. To learn more about Columbia Business School's position at the very center of business, please visit www.gsb.columbia.edu.

About Drexel's Gupta Governance Institute
The Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute (GGI) at Drexel University LeBow College of Business is committed to modernizing board leadership through practical dialogue and applied research. The Institute is home to both the Center for Corporate Governance and the Center for Nonprofit Governance, each providing world-renowned business leaders with dynamic governance insights. The Institute and Centers are foremost governance leaders in shaping and influencing corporate and nonprofit boardrooms, nationally and internationally. To learn more about GGI, visit us at drexel.edu/lebow/governance.

SOURCE National Association of Corporate Directors