By Geoff Rushton, Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State is among the top producers in the nation of current CEOs of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, according to a list recently compiled by Bloomberg.
Penn State tied for 11th on the list with Cornell, Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania. The top 11 included three other Big Ten schools: Wisconsin (T-3rd) , Indiana and Purdue (T-9th). The top 50 also included fellow Big Ten universities Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern and Michigan State.
The University of California tops the list with 12 alumni CEOs, tying it with what Bloomberg calls the School of Hard Knocks — CEO’s with no college degree. More than half of the top 50, and seven of the top 11, are public colleges and universities.
The seven CEOs who count Penn State as their undergraduate alma mater are:
• Michael Laphen, chairman/president/CEO, Computer Sciences Corp. – Graduated from Penn State in 1972 with a bachelor’s in business. Laphen has served on the College of Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board. CSC is a leading global IT services company with about 87,000 employees.
• Albert Lord, vice chairman/CEO, SLM Corp. – Graduated from Penn State in 1967 with a degree in accounting. A Distinguished Alumnus and significant benefactor of Penn State Abington, Lord oversees Reston, Va.-based SLM, better known as student-loan provider Sallie Mae
• Gregory Lucier, chairman/CEO, Life Technologies Corp. – Graduated from Penn State in 1986 with a bachelor’s of science degree in industrial engineering. Penn State’s College of Engineering awarded him its World Class Engineer Alumni Award. Lucier heads Life Technologies, a global biotechnology tools firm that supplies researchers working in fields such as regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, environmental research and 21st century forensic science.
• Mark Parker, president/CEO, Nike Inc. – A 1977 Penn State graduate with a bachelor’s in political science, Parker was a runner on the track and field team during his collegiate career. Parker is Nike’s third CEO and began his career at the Beaverton, Ore.-based sportswear and equipment producer in 1979 as a footwear designer. Nike employs more than 30,000 people worldwide.
• Walter Rakowich, CEO, ProLogis – Graduated from Penn State in 1980 with a bachelor of science in accounting. He serves on the Smeal College of Business Institute for Real Estate Studies Advisory Board. ProLogis is a leading global provider of distribution facilities, with more than 475-million-square feet of industrial space in markets across North America, Europe and Asia. Headquartered in Denver, the company leases its industrial facilities to more than 4,400 customers, including manufacturers, retailers, transportation companies, third-party logistics providers and other enterprises with large-scale distribution needs.
• John Surma, chairman/CEO, U.S. Steel Corp. – A 1976 Penn State graduate with a bachelor of science in accounting. Vice chair of Penn State’s Board of Trustees and a member of the Smeal College of Business Board of Visitors, he and his wife, Becky, recently committed $5 million to endow the Dean’s Chair in Smeal, and the Surmas have a long history of supporting Penn State. U.S. Steel, based in Pittsburgh, is the largest integrated steel producer in the United States.
• Patricia Woertz, chairman/president/CEO, Archer Daniels Midland Co. – A 1974 Penn State graduate with a bachelor’s in accounting, Woertz has remained very involved with the University and has been honored as a Distinguished Alumna and Alumni Fellow. Woertz, who also serves on Smeal’s Board of Visitors, is named yearly by Fortune magazine among the most powerful women in business, including being named the No. 1 most powerful in 2009. Before heading Archer Daniels Midland, the Illinois-based agribusiness conglomerate, Woertz was an executive vice president of Chevron.
The Bloomberg list of CEO Undergraduate Alma Maters was created using a proprietary Bloomberg function to extract educational information for CEOs of the S&P 500 companies. Where education information was not available Bloomberg researched biographical data through individual company resources, the college or university directly or the Internet.