Dennis Chookaszian on The Importance of Corporate Governance in Developing Economies

The University of Chicago Center in Beijing
20th floor, Culture Plaza
No. 59A Zhong Guan Cun Street
Haidian District Beijing 100872

Dennis Chookaszian discussed the development of Global Governance systems over the past 30 years and told the history of Corporate Governance since the formation of the first Corporation in 1564.  That history is vital to understanding the changes that need to take place in developing countries to establish a stable, growth oriented economy.

Chookaszian is the former chairman and CEO of CNA Insurance Companies, which was a $17 billion multi-line insurer with 20,000 employees. From January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011, Chookaszian served as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC), which advised the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on issues relating to the Board’s agenda, project priorities and other matters. His background includes service on many AICPA and FASB committees and task forces and he was one of the eight members of the Public Oversight Board Panel on Audit Effectiveness. He currently serves as a member of the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG), which is the International group that was formed to recommend solutions to the financial reporting issues related to the current financial crisis.

Chookaszian has served as a director on the boards of eleven publicly traded corporations and currently serves on the boards of Allscripts, a healthcare systems company, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, Career Education, a private post secondary education provider, Internet Patents Corp, an internet patent service provider, and MacDonald Dettwiler, an information services company. He has also served on the Boards of 50 private companies throughout his career and presently serves on the Boards of 15 private companies. In addition, he currently serves on the boards of six non profit organizations.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University, an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Master’s in Economics from the London School of Economics. In 2010, Mr. Chookaszian received the Outstanding Director Award from the Financial Times Outstanding Directors Exchange