Rune Bjerke: DNB CEO

Norwegian Rune Bjerke was born on June 17, 1960. Rune attended the University of Oslo studying economics. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. 

He became the city commissioner of finance in the city cabinet of Oslo in 1992. Rune held this position until 1995. He has also been an advisor in the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, director at Scancem and CEO of Hafslund. 

In 2007, Rune became the CEO of DNB and still holds the position. DNB is the largest financial services group in Norway and one of the largest in the Nordic region in terms of market capitalization.  DNB offers a full array of financial services, including loans, savings, advisory services,  insurance and pension products for retail and corporate clients. 

The Group’s bank branches in Norway, in-store postal and banking outlets, Post office counters, Internet banking, mobile services and international offices ensure that they are present where their customers are.

DNB is one of the world’s leading shipping banks and has a strong position in the energy sector, and the fisheries and seafood industry. 

Victor Dodig: CIBC President & CEO

Victor Dodig holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. He earned an MBA from Harvard University and was a Baker Scholar. Victor also holds a Diploma from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France. 

Among his various professional positions was as management consultant with McKinsey and Company from 1994 to 1997. He also worked at Kraft General Foods Inc. At one point he was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Canada. 

Before Victor joined Canada Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) he was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in Canada for UBS Global Asset Management. In 2005 he joined CIBC as Executive Vice-President, CIBC Wealth Management. 

Victor was appointed Executive Vice-President, Retail Distribution in 2007. In this position  he led the bank’s retail banking distribution and sales team. In 2007, Victor was named Group Head, Wealth Management, being responsible for the bank’s brokerage, private wealth, and asset management businesses in Canada and the US.

In September 2014, Victor became head of CIBC, being appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and member of CIBC’s Board of Directors. 

Francis Blake: Home Depot Chairman

Francis Blake was born on July 30, 1949 in Boston, Massachusetts.  Francis graduated from Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1967. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1971 at Harvard University.  In 1976 he obtained a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Francis was a legislative assistant to the joint committee on Social Welfare of the Massachusetts legislature from 1971-1973.  He was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1978. Francis served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg and then to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Steven. He also served as general counsel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), deputy counsel to Vice President George H.W. Bush.

Francis was the general counsel for General Electric from 1991-1995. He then served as Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and managed the DOE’s annual $19 billion budget.

Francis joined Home Depot in 2002 as executive vice president for Business Development and Corporate Operations and vice chairman of the board of directors.  He became the chairman and CEO after his predecessor Robert Nardelli resigned on January 2007.  Francis is credited in turning around Home Depot’s performance by focusing on improving employee morale and giving better customer service.

A new president and CEO was appointed on November 2014 with Francis remaining as chairman. 

W. Edmund Clark: TD Bank Group CEO

W. Edmund Clark was born on October 10, 1947 in Ontario, Canada. In 1969 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. Ed obtained his Master’s degree from Harvard University in 1971 and went on to earn his Doctorate in Economics from the same university in 1974.

He joined the government after graduating and worked as a civil servant until 1984. Ed held a number of senior positions in the federal government. He then joined Merrill Lynch in 1985. Three years later he was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Financial Corporation. Ed held this position until he joined Canada Trust Financial Services in 1991.

Continuing his upward trajectory Ed became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Trust Financial Services. TD (Toronto-Dominion Bank) acquired Canada Trust Financial Services in February 2000. He then joined TD Bank Group as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of TD Canada Trust. In this role Ed led the successful integration of the TD and Canada Trust banking operations. He then served as President and Chief Operation Officer beginning July 2000.

Ed was named Group President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Bank Group on December 20, 2002. He announced his intention to retire as President and CEO effective November 1, 2014 at the age of 67. Ed will have served as CEO for around 12 years.

He has received honorary degrees from Mount Allison University, Queen’s University, and the University of Western Ontario.

Ed was the 2010 Cabinet Chair of United Way Toronto, and is currently a member of the Chair’s Advisory Council for Habitat for Humanity Toronto, and provides support to WoodGreen Community Services, an organization that delivers programs to build sustainable communities in the Toronto area. He is also chair of the Advisory Board for the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto. In 2014, Ed was elected to the Board of Trustee of U.S. policy organization, the Brookings Institute. 

Roger Ferguson Jr.: TIA-CREF CEO

Roger Ferguson, Jr. was born on October 28, 1951 in Washington, D.C. Of great intellect he graduated with a B.A. in economics magna cum laude in 1973, a J.D. cum laude in 1979 and a Ph.D. in economics all from Harvard University.  On a Frank Know Memorial Fellowship he attended Pembroke College at Cambridge University from 1973 to 1974.

Roger was an attorney at the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardell from 1981 to 1984. He was a partner at McKinsey & Company and from 1984 to 1997 and was based in New York City. Roger served as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System starting November 1997. He was appointed Vice Chairman in October 1999. Roger is known for his outstanding work and contribution during his stint as Vice Chairman.

After working with Swiss Re starting June 19, 2006 he was named on April 2008 as President and CEO of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF).

Founded in 1918 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie TIAA-CREF now has $569 billion assets under management with 9,000 employees in over 100 local offices.

James T. Hackett: Leading One Of The Largest Independent Gas And Oil Companies

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was in need of direction. While many companies hire internally quite a good number also hire externally. Hiring an outsider has its cons like the new guy may end up not working well with insiders. It has its pros like you can get the best talent around if you have a larger pool to choose from.

Anadarko seems to have made the best decision in hiring an outsider since he has given the company new direction and has provided consistent profits year after year.  James T. Hackett was their choice. He may have been a company outsider at the time but he was and is a deep insider of the oil and gas industry having spent most of his career in that sector.

James was appointed CEO of Anadarko in 2003 as well as company president. He has made the company leaner and stronger. Three years after joining Anadarko he made an audacious move by acquiring two other energy companies involving a total of $21 billion. This move helped solidify Anadarko’s status as on one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and product companies in the entire world.

For his achievements he became chairman of the board in 2006 and since May 2012 has been the executive chairman of Anadarko. Before joining the company James had been involved in the energy industry for a long time with a very impressive resume. He had been the head of a number of companies who were products of mergers.

Prior to joining Anadarko James was the president and COO of Devon Energy Corporation after it had merged with Ocean Energy where he was the chairman, president and CEO.  Ocean Energy was actually the product of a merger with Seagull Energy Corporation where he was also the chairman, CEO and president.

While mergers often cause the dislocation of senior executives for James it has always resulted in landing the top position; a testament to his business talent and managerial skills. He has lent his expertise in other fields such as being a former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and is vice chairman of the Baylor College of Medicine among other prestigious positions.

James earned a BS form the University of Illinois and an MBA from Harvard University.

 

Jill Abramson: Making History

Jill Abramson was born to be a journalist. She graduated from Harvard University in 1976 with a degree in History and Literature. While studying, Abramson was the Arts Editor of The Harvard Independent and also worked for Time Magazine from 1973 to 1976.

All her career has been in the field of journalism and she has been an investigative reporter for most of her life. She worked for various publications. Abramson spent almost a decade with The American Lawyer. She was then the editor in chief of Legal Times in Washington D.C. starting in 1986 to 1988. Then moved on to be a senior reporter of the Wall Street Journal in its Washington bureau from 1988 to 1997. Abramson then moved to The New York Times’ Washington bureau as its head.

In 2003 she became managing editor, the number two position at The New York Times. The New York Times is not just any newspaper. It has a very influential voice in the U.S. and around the world. It has also been noted for its history of being male dominated.  In fact in 1974 the paper’s female journalists brought a discrimination suit against the company. Today the situation has improved with over 40 percent of the top jobs now being held by women.

 In September 2011, Abramson made history by becoming The New York Times’ first female executive editor in its 160 year history.  She now faces new challenges as the paper tries to secure its place in the digital environment.