TEAM
Our Team
Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance
Lawrence A. Cunningham
Lawrence A. (“Larry”) Cunningham is Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. A graduate of the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics, Cunningham served for a decade as a Member of the Lerner College Dean’s NYC Advisory Council, and has participated in many UD and Weinberg Center events over the years, including delivering the 2024 Weinberg Distinguished Lecture.
A Delaware native, Cunningham is a leading expert on corporate governance who has held diverse roles as a university professor, program director and dean, author and commentator, public company board member, and corporate lawyer. He held tenured appointments on the faculties of Yeshiva University, Boston College, and George Washington University. In 2022, he was elected as the Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor of Law Emeritus at George Washington University Law School.
During these appointments, Cunningham served at Yeshiva University as director of the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance; at George Washington, as director of the Center for Law, Economics and Finance (C-LEAF) and founding director of GW in New York (GWNY); and at Boston College as associate dean for academic affairs. Cunningham has also taught or visited at many other universities, including Columbia, Fordham, St. John’s and Vanderbilt in the United States, as well as Central European University in Budapest, Hebrew University in Jerusalem and University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.
Cunningham has published more than 20 books, 50 scholarly research articles and hundreds of columns. Books include the international best seller, The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, and notable titles such as Contracts in the Real World and Quality Investing. Cunningham’s scholarly research on topics at the intersection of law and accounting have been especially influential. His writings on corporate governance have appeared in all the leading academic and professional outlets, including the blogs of Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Oxford and Yale Universities, as well as Corporate Board, Corporate Governance Advisor, Corporate Secretary, Directors & Boards and the NACD’s Directorship. Journalists call upon Cunningham often and he has twice testified before Congress on topics related to corporate governance.
Cunningham has served on numerous corporate boards, currently including Markel Group (New York Stock Exchange), Constellation Software (Toronto Stock Exchange) and Kelly Partners Group (Australian Stock Exchange/Nasdaq). He has been a nominee in several proxy contests and has participated in resolving and settling related disputes. Cunningham has also served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including currently as a Trustee of the Museum of American Finance.
From 2022 to 2024, Cunningham served as special counsel of Mayer Brown, where he advised clients on corporate governance and related matters and produced substantial thought leadership. Before entering academia, Cunningham was a corporate associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York and during college at UD worked in various positions in the Wilmington office of Skadden, Arps.
In 2018, Cunningham received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and has been honored by NACD as among the “most influential people in corporate governance and in the boardroom.” His research is among the most downloaded from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), and his books have won awards from the American Library Association and received wide reviews.
Cunningham is a graduate of Girard College, the Philadelphia boarding school, as well as of UD and received his JD, magna cum laude, from Yeshiva University.
Administrative Specialist
Nicole R. Rich
Nicole Rich is the Administrative Specialist for the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. A graduate of the University of Delaware’s College of Arts and Sciences, Rich has served the University in numerous capacities over the years, including in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. In the Weinberg Center, she handles administrative and financial affairs; event planning support; and advancing the Center’s short-term activities and long-term strategies.
Nicole began her career at JP Morgan Chase & Co. in the credit card division. She was a Research Analyst and then was promoted to a Team Lead where she oversaw a unit of twenty employees. She also worked at Caravel Academy, a private college preparatory school. While at Caravel Nicole held positions in the Upper School, Middle School and was the Lower School Librarian.
Research Assistants and Fellows
The Weinberg Center’s research and publications are supported by a dynamic rotating team of Research Assistants and Fellows. These teammates include undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Delaware as well as from other universities along with recent graduates working in the field of corporate governance, as judicial clerks, as government attorneys, or in other capacities. Projects range from large-scale undertakings—including the production of books, research articles, white papers and comment letters—to periodic commentary, including thought pieces, blog posts and op-eds. Positions include Weinberg Center Research Assistants and the Myron T. Steele Fellows, the latter named and funded in honor of the former Chief Justice of Delaware, a renowned leader in the field of corporate governance.
WEINBERG CENTER RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Brooke Burkhardt
Brooke Burkhardt is a Weinberg Center Research Assistant at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, where she works closely with Professor Cunningham. She is currently a second-year Finance major at the University of Delaware, with plans to graduate a year early to pursue a law degree focused on business law and corporate governance. In addition to her role at the Weinberg Center, Burkhardt is a Customer Finance Intern at Siemens Healthineers, gaining hands-on experience in corporate finance. On campus, Burkhardt is an active leader, serving as President of the Lovers of the Library book club. She is also involved in the HenLaw Society, where she engages with law school admissions representatives and alumni to explore pathways to a legal career. Burkhardt looks forward to deepening her understanding of the intersection of law and finance through her continued work at the Weinberg Center.
MYRON T. STEELE FELLOW
Joseph LaForte
Joseph LaForte is a Myron T. Steele Fellow at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. He is currently a senior at the University of Delaware, majoring in Political Science and double minoring in Economics and International Business, and he has achieved placement on the Dean’s List every semester. While working at the Weinberg Center, LaForte also provides tutoring sessions in microeconomics.
MYRON T. STEELE FELLOW
Dante Pavan
Dante Pavan is a Myron T. Steele Fellow in the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. A graduate of the University of Delaware and Delaware Law School of Widener University, Pavan has been a corporate advisory associate at McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Wilmington, clerked for The Honorable Mary F. Walrath of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and currently serves as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Delaware in the Civil Division, where he primarily handles bankruptcy matters on behalf of the United States. At Delaware Law School, Pavan was Editor-in-Chief of the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, National Vice President of the National Native American Law Students Association, and Research Assistant to Dean Rodney Smolla. He held an externship under The Honorable Kent Jordan on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and served as a Thomas L. Ambro Fellow.
MYRON T. STEELE FELLOW
Alex White
Past Center Leadership
FORMER Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance
SEPTEMBER 2021 — SEPTEMBER 2024
Justin P. Klein
Justin Klein served as the Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, from September 2021 to September 2024. He served as a member of the Weinberg Center’s Advisory Board since 2015.
Prior to joining the Center, Justin Klein was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP from 1992 through 2019 and most recently has served as senior counsel at the firm. He has represented public and private companies and their boards and board committees in a variety of transactions, including securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He also has advised firms in the securities industry, including broker-dealers and investment banks, and has assisted clients in day-to-day corporate governance, disclosure and other transactional matters. Before entering private practice, Klein served for nine years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding positions including assistant director of the Division of Corporation Finance.
Mr. Klein has been recognized by Chambers USA, receiving its highest ranking in corporate/M&A and securities law (2003-2021) and was named one of the Best Lawyers in America in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law and securities capital markets law (2006-2021) and Lawyer of the Year in Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Philadelphia/2020).
Mr. Klein is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He is a past Chair of the Business Law Section, Executive Committee, and past Chair of the Committee on Securities Regulation. He served on the Attorney Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. Mr. Klein has been a frequent speaker at securities law conferences. He writes extensively on a wide variety of securities law issues, including corporate governance, executive compensation and securities regulation.
At Ballard Spahr, Mr. Klein was a member of the Elected Board and a member of the firm’s Diversity Council. He is active in community service, having served as board chair and a board member of The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, president of the board of Settlement Music School and board chair at Pomfret School.
Mr. Klein earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
FORMER INTERIM Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance
JUNE 2020 — SEPTEMBER 2021
Laura Field
Laura Casares Field is the Donald J. Puglisi Professor of Finance, Department Chair of Finance at the University of Delaware. She received her MBA and PhD from UCLA and was previously a professor and Moore Faculty Fellow at Penn State University. Professor Field is an associate editor of the Review of Corporate Finance and the Journal of Corporate Finance, she serves as an Academic Director of the Financial Management Association, and she is a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (EGCI). Professor Field’s research focuses in the area of corporate finance, with a particular emphasis on corporate governance and initial public offerings. Professor Field’s research has been published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and the Journal of Corporate Finance, among others. Professor Field has taught corporate governance, corporate finance, and international finance to undergraduates, MBA, and Ph.D. students.
For more information, visit this webpage.
Retired Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair
in Corporate Governance and the Founding Director
Charles M. Elson
Charles M. Elson is the retired Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance and the Founding Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. He is also Executive Editor-At-Large for DIRECTORS & BOARDS.
He formerly served as a Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida from 1990 until 2001. He was Of Counsel/Consultant to Holland & Knight from 1995 to 2024. His fields of expertise include corporations, securities regulation and corporate governance. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia Law School, and has served as a law clerk to Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson III and Elbert Tuttle of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, the Cornell Law School, and the University of Maryland School of Law, and was a Salvatori Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. and is a member of the American Law Institute. In 2019 he was a Herbert Smith Freehills Fellow at Cambridge University. He served as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law in 2023.
Professor Elson has written extensively on the subject of boards of directors. He is a frequent contributor on corporate governance issues to various scholarly and popular publications. He served on the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Commissions on Director Compensation, Director Professionalism, CEO Succession, Audit Committees, Strategic Planning, Director Evaluation, Risk Governance, Effective Lead Director, Board Diversity, Talent Development, and Strategy Development and was a member of its Best Practices Council on Coping With Fraud and Other Illegal Activity. He served as well on that organization’s Advisory Council. He was also a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Additionally, Professor Elson served as an advisor and consultant to Towers Perrin, the international human resource management consultants, as a director of Circon Corporation, a medical products maker, Sunbeam Corporation, the consumer products manufacturer, Nuevo Energy Company, an independent oil and natural gas producer, the Investor Responsibility Research Center, a non-profit corporate governance research organization, Alderwoods Group, an international death care services provider, AutoZone, Inc. the national automobile parts retailer, Bob Evans Farms, Inc., a restaurant and food products company, and Encompass Health Corporation, a healthcare services provider.
He is presently a member of the Board of Directors of Enhabit Health Corporation, a healthcare services provider, and Blue Bell Creameries Inc., a food products manufacturer. He has served as a trustee of the Big Apple Circus, Talledega College, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Delaware Museum of Natural History, the Delaware Art Museum and the Museum of American Finance. He is presently a trustee of the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art and the Hagley Museum and Library. He has been included in the list of “100 most influential players in corporate governance” of DIRECTORSHIP, the “100 most influential people in finance” of TREASURY & RISK MANAGEMENT, the list of 10 governance “stars” of GLOBAL PROXY WATCH, and ETHISPHERE’S 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics.