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Marjorie Scardino

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Marjorie Scardino
Marjorie Scardino at Financial Times 125th Anniversary Party, London, in June 2013
Born
Marjorie Morris

(1947-01-25) 25 January 1947 (age 77)
Arizona[1]
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materBaylor University
OccupationChief executive
EmployerPearson PLC
SpouseAlbert Scardino

Dame Marjorie Morris Scardino, DBE, FRSA (born 25 January 1947) is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Dame Marjorie became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson [1]. She has been criticized by Private Eye magazine because, while Oxfam campaigns against corporate tax avoidance as part of the IF Coalition [2], Pearson was "a prolific tax haven user...routing hundreds of millions of pounds through an elaborate series of Luxembourg companies (and a Luxembourg branch of a UK company) to avoid tax".[2] She became the first female Chief Executive of a FTSE 100 company when she was appointed CEO of Pearson[3] in 1997. She is also a non-executive director of Nokia[4] and former CEO of the Economist Group.[5] During her time at Pearson, she had tripled profits to a record £942m.[6] In December 2013, she joined the board of Twitter [7] as its first female director, after a controversy involving a lack of diversity on the Twitter board.[8]

Early life and education

Scardino was born in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1947, and grew up in Texarkana, Texas. While living in Texas she participated in rodeo riding as a teenager.[9] Scardino is a graduate of Baylor University with a BA in French and psychology in 1969. She began law school at George Washington University but dropped out to become a journalist at Associated Press in Charleston, West Virginia, and later obtained her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.[10]

Career

Before 1985, Scardino was the editor of the newspaper, The Georgia Gazette.

She is the board chair[11] of the MacArthur Foundation and a board member of the Carter Center.[12] She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[10] She also won the 2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal.[13]

In 2007, she was listed 17th on the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women in the World.[14]

On October 3, 2012, it was announced that she will step down as CEO of Pearson to be replaced by John Fallon.[15][16]

In December 2013, she joined the board of Twitter [7] as its first female director, after a controversy involving a lack of diversity on the Twitter board.[8]

Personal life

Scardino is married to Albert Scardino,[5] whom she worked with during her time at The Georgia Gazette and later a media reporter for The New York Times. Her son is actor Hal Scardino.

Although she was born in the United States, she has taken British citizenship.[17]

Awards and Honors

Scardino received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2001 [18]

In 2014, Scardino received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Roehampton.[19]

References

  1. ^ Doward, Jamie (9 March 2003). "Can Marje stay in charge?". The Observer. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  2. ^ P5, no 1374, 5–18 September 2014, Private Eye
  3. ^ BBC female achievements timeline
  4. ^ "Board of Directors". Nokia. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  5. ^ a b Colby, Laura (16 March 1998). "Yankee Expansionist Builds British Empire". Fortune. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  6. ^ "BBC News - Pearson: Marjorie Scardino steps down as chief executive". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Thank you". Twitter. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Curtain Is Rising on a Tech Premiere With (as Usual) a Mostly Male Cast". Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  9. ^ Publishing, DK (2009). 1000 CEOs. Penguin. p. 218. ISBN 978-0756670573. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  10. ^ a b Cave, Andrew (24 February 2008). "British business people: The top 1,000: Media and entertainment 20 to 1". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  11. ^ "Marjorie Scardino Elected to Chair MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Management Team - Marjorie Scardino: Chief executive". Pearson PLC. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  13. ^ "The Benjamin Franklin Medal". Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  14. ^ #17 Marjorie Scardino
  15. ^ "John Fallon to succeed Marjorie Scardino as Pearson's chief executive". pearson.com. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  16. ^ "Scardino, Chief of Pearson, to Step Down - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. New York: NYTC. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  17. ^ "Marjorie Scardino". Businesswings. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  18. ^ "Heriot-Watt University". www1.hw.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  19. ^ "Twitter director Marjorie Scardino awarded honorary doctorate". University of Roehampton. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
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