Marjorie Scardino

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Dame

Marjorie Scardino

DBE FRSA
Scardino in 2013
Born
Marjorie Morris

(1947-01-25) 25 January 1947 (age 77)
Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.[1]
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materBaylor University
OccupationChief executive
EmployerPearson PLC
SpouseAlbert Scardino
Children3, including Hal Scardino

Dame Marjorie Scardino, DBE, FRSA (née Morris; born 25 January 1947) is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Scardino became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson.[2]

She was criticized by Private Eye magazine because, while Oxfam campaigns against corporate tax avoidance as part of the IF Coalition, 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".[3][4][5] She became the first female Chief Executive of a FTSE 100 company when she was appointed CEO of Pearson[6] in 1997. She is also a non-executive director of Nokia and former CEO of the Economist Group.[7][8] During her time at Pearson, Pearson's profits tripled, to a record £942m.[9]

In December 2013, she joined the board of Twitter as its first female director, after a controversy involving a lack of diversity on the Twitter board.[10][11]

Early life and education[edit]

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.[12] Scardino is a graduate of Baylor University with a B..A 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 J.D. degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.[13]

Career[edit]

Before 1985, Scardino was the publisher of The Georgia Gazette.

She is the board chair[14] of the MacArthur Foundation and a board member of the Carter Center.[15] She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[13] She also won the 2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal.[16]

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

On October 3, 2012, it was announced that she will step down as CEO of Pearson to be replaced by John Fallon.[18][19]

In December 2013, she joined the board of Twitter[10] as its first female director, after a controversy involving a lack of diversity on the Twitter board.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Scardino is married to Albert Scardino,[8] whom she worked with during her time at The Georgia Gazette and later a media reporter for The New York Times. She has three children, Adelaide, Will and Hal (producer and former child actor).

Although she was born in the United States, she has taken British citizenship.[20]

Awards and honors[edit]

Marjorie Scardino received an Honorary Doctorate from Brunel University in 1999 for her role as CEO of Pearson plc.[21]

Scardino received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2001 [22]

Scardino’s contributions to the British media were recognized when she was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in February 2002, one month after she had adopted British citizenship.

In 2014, Scardino received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Roehampton.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Doward, Jamie (9 March 2003). "Can Marje stay in charge?". The Observer. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Oxfam's CEO, Directors and Trustees | Oxfam GB". Oxfam GB. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. ^ "The IF Coalition | Enough Food IF". 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  4. ^ "INVISIBLE MONEY 2: VOYAGE TO LUXEMBOURG - Ground Report". groundreport.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. ^ P5, no 1374, 5–18 September 2014, Private Eye.
  6. ^ BBC female achievements timeline, bbc.co.uk. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Board of Directors". Nokia. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  8. ^ a b Colby, Laura (16 March 1998). "Yankee Expansionist Builds British Empire". Fortune. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  9. ^ "BBC News - Pearson: Marjorie Scardino steps down as chief executive". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Thank you". Twitter. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Curtain Is Rising on a Tech Premiere With (as Usual) a Mostly Male Cast". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  12. ^ Publishing, DK (2009). 1000 CEOs. Penguin. p. 218. ISBN 978-0756670573. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "Marjorie Scardino Elected to Chair MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  15. ^ "Management Team - Marjorie Scardino: Chief executive". Pearson PLC. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  16. ^ "The Benjamin Franklin Medal". Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  17. ^ #17 Marjorie Scardino
  18. ^ "John Fallon to succeed Marjorie Scardino as Pearson's chief executive". pearson.com. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  19. ^ "Scardino, Chief of Pearson, to Step Down - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. New York. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  20. ^ "Marjorie Scardino". Businesswings. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  21. ^ "Honorary Graduates". www.brunel.ac.uk. 1999.
  22. ^ "Heriot-Watt University". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Twitter director Marjorie Scardino awarded honorary doctorate". University of Roehampton. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

External links[edit]

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