About the Program

Corporate leaders encounter significant challenges when addressing public debates on contentious topics. They must strike a balance between the pressures to speak out or remain silent while navigating the polarized nature of today’s discourse and the powerful, diverse interests of shareholders, employees, consumers, and civil society groups.

Join the Robert Zicklin Center for a talk featuring Lawrence Cunningham, Director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. Mr. Cunningham will argue that corporate leaders should adopt a pragmatic approach rather than adhering to a fixed or ideological stance on whether to take public positions. He will emphasize evaluating the specific context and circumstances of each situation. By drawing on the history and law of corporate governance, as well as practical experience, Cunningham will demonstrate that the best strategy for each board and CEO will vary based on the unique characteristics of their corporation, its leadership, its shareholder base, its workforce, the markets it serves, and how these factors interact with public debates.

About the Speaker

Mr. Cunningham is Director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. He has written dozens of books and scores of articles on a wide range of subjects in law and business. These include best-selling books such as The Essays of Warren Buffett (in collaboration with Warren Buffett) and The AIG Story (written with Hank Greenberg) and influential research articles on accounting and corporate governance. Before retiring from GW in 2022 at age 60, Cunningham founded and for many years directed GWNY, GW Law’s innovative boot camp for aspiring Wall Street lawyers.

Professor Cunningham has served on several public company boards, including currently Markel Group (New York Stock Exchange), a global insurance and investment company, as vice chairman of Constellation Software Inc. (Toronto Stock Exchange), owner and operator of nearly one-thousand vertical market software businesses, and Kelly Partners Group (Australian Stock Exchange), owner and operator of nearly one hundred independent accountancy firms.

Before becoming a professor, Cunningham practiced corporate law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York from 1988 to 1994, where his practice areas included corporate governance, M&A, finance, and international. In 2018, Professor Cunningham received the B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

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