June 4, 2021

PHILADELPHIA, PA: The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the authority on boardroom practices representing more than 21,000 corporate board members, today announced that the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has joined the NACD Education Network™, an alliance of top-tier academic institutions offering reciprocal credit for directors who are NACD Directorship Certified™. The NACD Education Network was formed in 2020 to better prepare board directors for the rigors of the increasingly complex and challenging work of directorship. The Aresty Institute of Executive Education joins a growing alliance that began with Stanford University's Rock Center for Corporate Governance, the founding member of the NACD Education Network. The alliance also includes Columbia Business School Executive Education and Drexel University's Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute.

Building on NACD Directorship Certification®, which puts directors on the leading edge of governance issues and demonstrates their commitment to the profession of directorship, the NACD Education Network enables NACD Directorship Certified individuals to earn recertification credits toward maintaining the certification via participation in leading director programs provided by world-class universities. NACD Directorship Certification requires recertification every two years through 32 hours of continuous learning at recognized programs.

"Becoming a vigilant director and board leader have become all the more vital in an era of company change, market disruption, and governance challenges," said Wharton professor of management Michael Useem, codirector of Wharton Executive Education's governance programs. "We are delighted to join with NACD and its partners in providing directors and executives with research and action for board oversight and leadership of the enterprise."

The goal of the NACD Education Network is to help certified directors to enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities, enabling them to discharge their duties as effectively as possible.

"We are thrilled to add the prestigious Wharton School to our growing NACD Education Network," said Peter R. Gleason, CEO of NACD. "Expanding the network of world-class providers of executive education to pair with NACD's cutting-edge education programming and certification will help directors to succeed as they face the most challenging times of their directorships."

Plans are underway to expand the network to include additional nationally and internationally recognized institutions. To learn more about the NACD Education Network, visit https://certification.nacdonline.org/educationnetwork.

About NACD

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 21,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom. As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD helps boards strengthen investor trust and public confidence by ensuring that today's directors are well prepared for tomorrow's challenges. World-class boards join NACD to elevate performance, gain foresight, and instill confidence. Fostering collaboration among directors, investors, and corporate governance stakeholders, NACD has been setting the standard for responsible board leadership for 40 years. To learn more about NACD, visit www.nacdonline.org.

About the Wharton School

Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 100,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs, and thousands of pre-collegiate students explore business concepts through Wharton’s www.wharton.upenn.edu.

Media Contact