Symposium 2018 | Women and Corporate Governance: A Conference Exploring the Role and Impact of Women in the Governance of Public Corporations

The George Washington Law Review, along with our co-sponsor Professor Lisa Fairfax of The George Washington University Law School, is excited to announce our Fall 2018 Symposium, Women and Corporate Governance: A Conference Exploring the Role and Impact of Women in the Governance of Public Corporations. Please save the date for the Symposium: Friday, November 2, 2018, at The George Washington University Law School.

The Symposium will explore the role of women in a changing corporate environment, particularly in light of the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. Recent social, political, and economic events have brought renewed attention to the ways in which the corporate environment is impacted by, and responsive to, women. It is especially vital to further this discussion today, as corporations grapple with the under-representation of women on their boards, in their C-suites, and in a host of other managerial positions.

In place of the traditional individual keynote, we have the privilege of hosting a fireside chat featuring the three women who have served as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – Mary Schapiro, Elisse Walter, and Mary Jo White, moderated by Professor Lisa Fairfax.

The Symposium also will feature many leading scholars and professionals to discuss the status of women in corporate America; the issues women confront when monitoring, managing, and advising corporations; and the extent to which gender impacts one’s ability to successfully face those issues. These illustrious contributors will include:
• Susan Baker, Vice President, Shareholder Advocacy, Trillium Asset Management, LLC
• Commissioner Sharon Bowen, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Professor Douglas M. Branson, University of Pittsburgh
• Professor Naomi Cahn, The George Washington University Law School
• Associate Dean June Carbone, University of Minnesota
• Professor Aaron Dhir, Yale Law School & Osgoode Hall Law
• Professor Jill Fisch, University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Margaret M. “Peggy” Foran, Chief Governance Officer, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Prudential Financial, Inc.
• Professor Theresa Gabaldon, The George Washington University Law School
• Professor Joan Heminway, The University of Tennessee College of Law
• Janet Hill, Principal in Hill Family Advisors; Board of Directors of Carlyle Group, Dean Foods, Esquire Bank, Echo360
• Professor Sung Hui Kim, UCLA School of Law
• Professor Kristin Johnson, Tulane University Law School
• Tracey L. McNeil, Ombudsman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Professor Donna Nagy, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
• Amanda K. Packel, Managing Director, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance; Co-Director, Stanford Directors’ College
• Laura Paugh, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Marriott International
• Professor Hillary A. Sale, Georgetown University Law Center; Affiliated Faculty, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
• Cheryl Scarboro, Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
• Professor Cindy Schipani, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
• Anne Simpson, California Public Employees’ Retirement System
• Sherrese Smith, Partner, Corporate Department, Paul Hastings
• Kellye Y. Testy, President and CEO, Law School Admission Council
• Linda Thomsen, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
• The Honorable Karen Valihura, Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware

Friday, November 2

8:00–8:40 AM: Registration and Breakfast (Art Gallery Lobby, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)

8:40–9:00 AM: Introduction and Welcome Address (Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)

• Introduction: Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., Jeffrey and Martha Kohn Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research Professor, The George Washington University Law School
• Welcome Address: Lisa Fairfax, Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law & Founder and Director, Corporate Law and Governance Initiative, The George Washington University Law School                                  

9:00–10:00 AM: Women and Boards (Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW)

• Douglas Branson, W. Edward Sell Chair in Business Law, University of Pittsburgh
• Aaron Dhir, Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law & Oscar M. Ruebhausen Distinguished Senior Fellow, Yale Law School; Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law
• Janet Hill, Principal in Hill Family Advisors; Board of Directors of Carlyle Group, Dean Foods, Esquire Bank, Echo360
• Amanda Packel, Managing Director, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance; Co-Director, Stanford Directors’ College
• Hillary Sale, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center & Affiliated Faculty, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University

Moderator: Lisa Fairfax, Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law & Founder and Director, Corporate Law and Governance Initiative, The George Washington University Law School

10:00–11:30 AM: Women and the C-suite (Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW)

• Susan Baker, Vice President, Shareholder Advocacy, Trillium Asset Management, LLC
• June Carbone, Robina Chair of Law, Science and Technology & Associate Dean for Research and Planning, University of Minnesota
• Margaret M. “Peggy” Foran, Chief Governance Officer, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Prudential Financial, Inc.
• Laura Paugh, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Marriott International
• Cindy Schipani, Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration & Professor of Business Law, University of Michigan
• Kellye Testy, President and CEO, Law School Admission Council (LSAC)

Moderator: Theresa Gabaldon, Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School

11:30–11:50 AM: Coffee Break (Art Gallery Lobby, 805 21st Street NW)

11:50 AM–12:50 PM: Fireside Chat (Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW)

• Mary Schapiro, former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Public Company Board member
• Elisse Walter, former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Mary Jo White, Senior Chair and Litigation Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton; former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Moderator: Lisa Fairfax, Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law & Founder and Director, Corporate Law and Governance Initiative, George Washington University Law School

1:00–2:00 PM: Lunch (Dee J. Kelly Law Learning Center Lobby, 2028 G Street NW)

2:00–3:30 PM: Women as Counsel and Gatekeepers (Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW)

• Jill Fisch, Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law; Co-Director, Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Kristin Johnson, McGlinchey Stafford Professor of Business Law and Financial Markets Regulation, Tulane University Law School
• Sung Hui Kim, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
• Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager of Investments & Director of Corporate Governance, California Public Employees’ Retirement System
• Justice Karen Valihura, Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware

Moderator: Joan Heminway, Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Tennessee College of Law                                

3:30–3:45 PM: Coffee Break (Art Gallery Lobby, 805 21st Street NW)

3:45–5:00 PM: Women as Regulators (Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW)

• Sharon Y. Bowen, former Commissioner, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Tracey L. McNeil, Ombudsman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Donna Nagy, Executive Associate Dean & C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
• Cheryl Scarboro, Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
• Linda Thomsen, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Moderator: Sherrese Smith, Partner, Corporate Department, Paul Hastings

5:00–6:00 PM: Closing Reception (Art Gallery Lobby, 805 21st Street NW)

Notes: Agenda subject to revision. All events to be held at The George Washington University Law School.