Postings: Directors for Hire

For boards looking to add some talented new members, there’s good and bad news in the fallout from the financial storm ravaging Wall Street firms. The good news is that the demise of some boards has created a fresh supply of capable financial experts who may be looking for new board assignments. The bad news is that many of them may be tainted by their involvement in the crisis.

The fire-sale acquisitions of Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers are likely to put those boards out of business. When a company is acquired or files for bankruptcy, boards are either sent packing or, in a less likely situation, some members may be asked to serve the combined entity.

“If it’s a merger, then it’s a matter of who stays and who goes,” says Michael Kelly, a managing partner of the board services practice at CTPartners in New York. “In an acquisition, the board of the company being acquired goes away and the acquirer’s board stays intact.” However, when talk shifts to bankruptcy, the outcome for directors is notably different. “There are usually going to be lawsuits against the board,” says Kelly. “For example, Lehman Brothers is a major investment bank and there are going to be a lot of active shareholders coming after the board.” He says it is going to be tough going for these directors. “When you’re on a board of a company that goes bankrupt, you’re going to be tied up in timeconsuming litigation for a long time.”

Whether these directors can find new board assignments remains to be seen. For most, it will be a case-by-case scenario. Boards sometimes prefer directors who have gone through a crisis and know what to expect when things go terribly wrong. But they also don’t want to endure criticism for giving a board seat to someone who is perceived as damaged goods. “I think they're a bit tainted,” adds Kelly. “It's going to be awhile before they're back on the runway.

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Carlisle Companies elected Terry D. Growcock, chairman of The Manitowoc Co., to its board.

Lawrence M. Higby has been appointed to the board of eHealth Inc., an online provider of health insurance. Higby is CEO of Apria Healthcare Group.

Karl J. Krapek was named to the board of Northrop Grumman. Krapek had served as COO of United Technologies until his retirement in 2002.

Fairchild Semiconductor has appointed Tony Lear to its board. Lear has more than 39 years of experience in the electronics and semiconductor industries in senior management as well as executive and non-executive board roles. Lear previously oversaw all of NXP’s business operations in China.

Hershey Co. elected David L. Shedlarz to its board. Shedlarz is the former vice chairman of Pfizer. Before he retired in 2007, he also served as a member of the Pfizer executive leadership team, where he helped set the strategic course of the company.

Elizabeth A. Smith has joined the board of Staples. She is president of Avon Products. Before working at Avon, Smith served as group vice president of Kraft Foods for 14 years.

Marissa T. Peterson joined the board of Humana, a provider of health and benefits plans. She was formerly executive vice president of worldwide operations and services and served as chief customer advocate for Sun Microsystems in Santa Clara, Calif., before she retired in 2005 after 17 years.

Fortress Technologies has named Kevin Carroll to its board. Carroll was executive officer for the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information System and has served in various capacities within the U.S. Department of Defense.

ThermoEnergy named David Gelbaum and Shawn Hughes to its board. Gelbaum is a noted environmental investor and trustee of Quercus Trust Fund. Hughes is president and COO of Castion, ThermoEnergy’s water division.

William Hannigan was tapped for the board of Duff & Phelps. Hannigan is former COO of AT&T. His resume also includes a stint as chairman and CEO of Sabre Holdings.