Thomas Bakewell - Claiming Your Place at the Boardroom Table

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James J. Darazsdi worked tirelessly over the course of three decades to improve the governance of the many boards and institutions for which he served as a director, executive, and teacher. His
governance wisdom, business pragmatism, and financial expertise shaped literally thousands of corporate leaders over the span of
his impressive career as a business and academic leader. I am
privileged to carry his legacy forward in this book.

Thomas Bakewell

Darazsdis experience in a wide variety of companies, both large and small, privately held and public, from food processing to bridge building made him a valuable contributor. His thoughts expressed through his writings in many publications and his books are most worthy of our attention.

Richard Hardy
Chairman Emeritus, Affinity Group, Inc.

Dr. Darazsdi was a strong advocate for Good Governance, and he dedicated most of his time practicing and teaching good corporate governance practices. And today, Dr. Darazsdis book is a crowning jewel from his numerous years of work on such an important topic, and I am confident that it will be used and adopted as a reference manual by companies and institutions worldwide.

Antoine N. Tony Frem
Chairman of the Board,
Interstate Resources Inc. Vice Chairman of Board
INDEVCO Group and Mayor of the city of Jounieh Lebanon

I think of the wisdom [Darazsdi] brings to the field of leadership and hope that his legacy textbook can truly portray his wonderful contributions.

William C. Bill Crews, PhD,
Executive Director, Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission

Through his research while working on his doctoral dissertation, and afterward, Jim became an expert on corporate boards and the qualities needed to become a board member and to add value to a company. This book will be must-reading for business students or for anyone considering becoming a board director.

Marcie Harris, MBA Director of Administration
Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC

James Darazsdi came into a struggling nonprofit and provided his business skills to get Nichols College back on track. Jim brought a fresh look to the College from an industry perspective, which began to refocus Nichols on its core operations.

Debra M. Townsley, PhD
President, William Peace University

Jims association with the National Association of Corporate Directors provided valuable insights into how he could improve our own board performance. Jim developed the board charter and the annual evaluation of board performance, both of which are used today.

Jim Perdue
Owner, Perdue Farms

Jim Darazsdi was an outstanding chief financial officer of Rocco Inc.

Robert H. Twig Strickler
Rocco Enterprises Owner

YOUR FIRST B
OARD

People often ask if I can help them get on a board of directors, which goes with the territory as an officer of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Few people, though, know what it actually takes to be a directorespecially on a public company board. Gone are the days of the 1980s when a board seat was more of an honorary position. The events of the past 15 to 20 years have put a new lens on board service, and to paraphrase Bob Dylan, The timesthey have achanged. Still, board service has a lot to offer, but it takes a lot in return.

When I started my career at NACD, I was introduced to Jim Darazsdi. Jim had a unique blend of experiences, from academic, to CEO, to board member of a variety of companies, public, private, and nonprofit. Most importantly, Jim was a lifelong student and someone who truly believed that everyone could benefit from continuous learning. At the time I met Jim, he was the chair emeritus of NACD, and although he was no longer on our board, he remained very active with NACDmost prominently on our faculty, teaching everything from finance to strategy. I had the pleasure to work with him for about 8 years until I received a phone call from him indicating that he was writing a bookas his legacy. He told me he was dying and only had a few months to live, but he wanted to leave a book to help inform the next generation of students of governance and board service. Shortly thereafter, Jims wife Janet called to tell me Jim had passed. She sent me his manuscript and asked if I could help her get it finishedand published. I called the only person I thought might be able to build on the solid foundation that Jim had startedTom Bakewell.