Conference Board Elects First Non-U.S. Chair, New Trustees

ByJohn S. McClenahen Colin Marshall, a British citizen and the executive credited with major marketing successes at British Airways PLC is now the first non-U.S.-based business leader to be chairman of the New York-based Conference Board, a business research group. Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, as he is formally known in Britain, remains chairman of British Airways. "As our first non-U.S.-based chairman, Lord Marshall brings extraordinary worldwide experience to the Conference Board and symbolizes our group's effort to be a global enterprise, serving businesses on six continents," says Richard E. Cavanagh, the Conference Board's president and CEO. Eight new trustees also have chosen to join the organization's board, including three from manufacturing: Gary T. DiCamillo, chairman and CEO of Polaroid Corp.; Harry M.J. Kraemer Jr., chairman, president, and CEO of Baxter International Inc.; and Jacques A. Nasser, president of Ford Motor Co. Among other activities, the Conference Board publishes the Index of Leading Economic Indicators (unchanged in September, the most recent month for which data are available) and the Consumer Confidence Index (down sharply in October 2000).