NACD Names Director of the Year

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) earlier this week announced the recipients of the 2008 "Director of the Year" awards. Nominated by their peers, this year's winners are:

• Public company: Andrew J. McKenna, non-executive chairman of the board of McDonald’s Corp. and lead director of Aon Corp.
• Private company: David C. Phillips, co-founder and chairman of Cincinnati Works
• Not-for-profit company: Sally Jewell, CEO and president of Recreation Equipment, Inc. (REI)
• Lifetime achievement Award: John C. Whitehead, a long-time governance leader and retired co-chairman and senior partner at Goldman Sachs

The awards will be presented Oct. 20 during banquet that is part of the 2008 NACD Corporate Governance Conference, Oct. 19-21, in Washington, D.C.

Nominees also include winners of regional Director of the Year awards conducted by some NACD regional chapters.

National winners are selected based upon stringent criteria reviewed by NACD selection committees. Each of the four awards honor individual board members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in promoting the principles and best practices of good corporate governance.

This year’s committees looked at integrity, confidence, judgment, and high performance standards.