You have to admit that William Cunningham practices what he preaches.
He teaches a class in corporate governance at the University of Texas and sits on the boards of public companies that paid him a total of about $800,000 in stock and cash last year.
If the former chancellor of the University of Texas system lives in an Ivory Tower, it is firmly anchored in a very nice real-world neighborhood.
Cunningham, 63, is a director of Southwest Airlines, Lincoln National Corporation, Introgen Therapeutics, Inc., LIN Television and Hayes Lemmerz International Inc.
He is also a trustee of John Hancock Mutual Funds and this year became a founding director of Hicks Acquisition Co. Inc., a so-called blank check company formed to acquire an ongoing business.
Dallas buyout king Tom Hicks, the person behind Hicks Acquisition, often is a guest speaker in Cunningham’s class, according to the course description, as is Herb Kelleher the former CEO of Southwest Airlines.
Hicks was a UT regent during Cunningham’s term as chancellor. Both Hicks and Kelleher are listed as members of The Littlefield Society, which honors UT’s biggest donors.
Cunningham began teaching at Texas in 1979, became dean of the business school, president of UT-Austin, and then chancellor from 1992-2000. Since 1985 he has also held the James L. Bayless Chair for Free Enterprise.
An excerpt from the description of Cunningham’s class:
“As the business environment grows more complex, senior executives have to simultaneously manage business and political relationships, initiate and integrate acquisitions, create/change corporate culture, continually align the organization structure to the business strategy, deal with issues of corporate governance and succession planning, and learn to navigate through potential PR disasters.”
Cunningham’s directorships give him experience in a variety of industries. Southwest is one of the most profitable, airlines in the world. Lincoln National is a holding company for insurance, investment and other firms. LIN operates television stations. Introgen makes biopharmaceuticals and Hayes Lemmerz makes automotive components.
Among those directorships, Hayes Lemmerz paid Cunningham the most cash ($76,050) in 2006, according to proxy statements. But the potential for a big payday may be with Introgen, where Cunningham held stock and options totaling nearly 317,000 shares at the beginning of the year. Introgen is trying to develop treatments for cancer and other diseases.
Cunningham’s deal with Hicks Acquisition is also potentially lucrative. As a founding director, he received 69,000 shares of stock. Founders can’t sell shares until at least 180 days after the completion of an acquisition. Those shares are currently trading at slightly less than $10 apiece.
Each share also comes with a warrant allowing Cunningham to buy an additional share at what could be a preferred price.
An interesting sidenote: Lincoln National matches charity donations of directors up to $10,000. Cunningham was one of five directors, among 16 current and former board members listed in the proxy, to take advantage of that program in 2006.
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