Corporate Governance Institute Receives Endowed Chair and Shareholder Value Endowment
Ralph V. Whitworth
San Diego State University’s Fowler College of Business announced a $2.25 million gift from Batchelder/Washington Investments LLC to support its first endowed chair and a separate endowment for the university’s Corporate Governance Institute (CGI).
The Ralph V. Whitworth Chair in Corporate Governance, named in honor of leading pioneer in activist investing, Ralph Whitworth, was established by a $1.5 million gift. The gift comes with a dollar-for-dollar match from the Ron and Alexis Fowler Match for a total of $3 million. The Corporate Governance Institute also recieved a $750,000 gift for a Shareholder Value Endowment, with the match to toal $1.5 million.
Ralph Whitworth was a central player in advancing responsible investor activism, from advocating for the key “short slate” SEC rule change in the early 1990s through co-founding and building Relational Investors into a $6 billion investment fund based in San Diego. During his career as an activist investor, Whitworth served on 11 corporate boards, including Mattel, Waste Management, and Tektronix, and as Hewlett-Packard’s interim chairman of the board.
David Katz discusses recent shareholder interventions with ValueAct’s Allison Bennington at the 2018 Behind the Scenes with ValueAct: From Microsoft to Clean Energy event.
David Katz explores the recent trend of portfolio firms initiating contact with investors in the 2017 Reaching Out: Shareholder Engagement Meets Shareholder Activism event.
David Katz (l.) and Paul Tosetti (r.) query Allergan Inc. Chairman Mike Gallagher and CEO David Pyott at the 2016 The Allergan Intervention: A Company Fights Back event.
Relational Investors founder David Batchelder (r.), discusses recent events at Home Depot with Turnaround Chairman and CEO Frank Blake (l.), in February 2015, at The Home Depot Turnaround: The Inside Story event, part of CGI’s David Batchelder Lecture Series in Investor Activism.
Relational Investors Founder David Batchelder with CGI Director Lori Ryan, at the June 2014 David Batchelder Summer Lecture in Investor Activism
CGI hosted the "Shareholder Interventions of the Year" event in January 2014, with panelists (l to r) CVS Caremark Chairman Dave Dorman, Relational Investors founder and event host David Batchelder, Chesapeake Energy Chairman Archie Dunham, and Hewlett-Packard Chairman Ralph Whitworth, shown here with CGI Director Lori Ryan.
David Batchelder, co-founder of Relational Investors, spoke at the first CGI David Batchelder Lecture in Investor Activism event in June 2013, here with CGI Director Lori Ryan
Vision:
The Corporate Governance Institute strives to become known as a dominant center for the study and application of responsible corporate governance principles worldwide.
Mission:
The Corporate Governance Institute (CGI) is a research and education center dedicated to the study and application of responsible corporate governance principles worldwide. The Institute's mission is to enhance the skills of corporate directors, investors, and senior executives through research and curriculum development. CGI programs focus on identifying and promoting responsible practices worldwide in all aspects of corporate governance. CGI seeks to support the Fowler College of Business, San Diego State University, and members of the local, national, and international communities in matters related to corporate governance.