Lou Thompson

In Memorium
Lou Thompson is a recognized expert on corporate governance and disclosure, investor relations and corporate strategic communication. He served as president and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute from 1982-2006 and has remained active in the field since his retirement.

Thompson founded his own consulting firm with the mission to assist corporations in establishing best practices in corporate governance, disclosure and positioning. He is also currently serving a second term on the NYSE Individual Investor Advisory Committee and is a columnist for Compliance Week. He is also a partner with Beacon Advisors consortium and recently served as Managing Director at Kalorama Partners, a business-consulting firm in Washington, DC founded by former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt.

Lou authored NIRI's "Guidelines for Corporate Disclosure" and was the first recipient of Barron's and Investor Relations Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for Investor Relations and Communication (2000).

He has been a charter member of the Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board, member of the Harvard University New Foundsations Working Group on Corporate Governance, and served on SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt's Advisory Committee. He served as Assistant White House Press Secretary to President Gerald R. Ford. Lou holds BS and MS degrees from Iowa State University.

Related Articles

Chicago Tribune 04-20-11 Pritzkers Look to Cut Hyatt Chain Ownership - Excerpt on Lou Thompson:

"Lou Thompson, a member of the Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board and a fellow at the Governance & Accountabilty Institute in New York, said the days of the supermajority shares may be numbered as a result of shareholder activism and the regulatory push for transparency."

Toward Better Sustainability Reporting - (Louis M. Thompson - Compliance Week 07-24-12)
Is mandatory corporate sustainability reporting in the future for public companies? Not necessarily. If companies continue to voluntarily report on their sustainability and corporate responsibility efforts, mandatory reporting, at least in the United States, may not come to pass anytime soon.