M. Peter McPherson, the incomg chairman of the board at Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, talked to the Michigan State University paper, The State News, about his new duties.
McPherson is the former president of the university.
Here are some excerpts:
The State News: President McPherson, what will your responsibilities include with this new position?
M. Peter McPherson: I’ll be working with the CEO to get the major issues that the board should decide on, on the agenda and being sure we have a process that makes those decisions. It is definitely not a CEO job because, of course, the CEO must run the corporation.
SN: Are you being groomed to become the company’s next CEO?
M. Peter McPherson: It’s not that at all. I am not a full-time employee. Major corporations have been separating the chair of the board and the jobs. Part of the good governance efforts is that there should be a separation of responsibility for the board to perform its functions well. Previous to now, we generally had the CEO be the chairman of the board, but now the decision is we will have a separate function.
Read more here.
