Boards Of Directors

Jewel Plummer Cobb is a woman very much in demand. Not only is she president of California State University at Fullerton, a campus with 23,700 students, she also serves on the corporate boards of First Interstate Bancorp, Allied-Signal, CPC International and Travelers Corp. "It keeps me pushed psychologically," Cobb said. "When I do fly to the East Coast, I do it on a 24-hour turnaround." But board room contacts have led directly to corporate sponsorship of several campus projects, she said.

In a rare setback for one of Orange County's most prominent businessmen, developer George L. Argyros resigned as chairman of troubled Apria Healthcare Group Inc. at the request of fellow board members. The move came after directors of the Costa Mesa-based company grilled Argyros about his disclosure Monday that he may lead a bid to buy Apria, one of the nation's largest home health care providers.

The post-Enron drive for greater independence of boards of directors has succeeded in reducing the overlap among Standard & Poor's 500 companies' boards, though the improvement has been modest, a new study suggests. Fewer directors are burdening themselves with more than two board memberships, and fewer chief executives are devoting time to companies other than their own.

Walt Disney Co., whose image as the standard-bearer of squeaky-clean family entertainment has been troubled recently by criticism from conservative Catholics and Southern Baptists, announced Tuesday that Father Leo J. O'Donovan, the president of Georgetown University, has been elected to its board. A Disney spokesman said there was "absolutely no connection" between the recent protests and the election of O'Donovan, a Jesuit priest.

Labor settlements over the weekend with two big steel companies mark the early fruits of an effort by U.S. unions to exchange short-term wage benefits for long-range corporate influence--by forcing union-picked members on company boards of directors. A strike by more than 15,000 steelworkers was averted Sunday when the United Steelworkers of America tentatively approved a contract with Bethlehem Steel Corp. that will place a union-nominated member on Bethlehem's board, union officials said.

The National Assn. of Securities Dealers, despite pressure to end big dealer firms' control of the Nasdaq Stock Market, apparently has avoided soliciting any of its critics to serve on its new boards of directors. After a critical report last September that had been commissioned by the NASD itself, the association agreed to appoint three new boards, at least half of whose members do not work for brokerage houses. The NASD is to announce membership of the first of these boards today.

Carrying out a massive overhaul meant to give the investing public more say in its affairs, the National Assn. of Securities Dealers named the members of its three new boards of directors Monday, although the slim majority of "public" members includes executives with direct ties to the securities industry.

Citing General Motors Corp. as a role model, the nation's largest public pension fund Thursday called on 200 major corporations to significantly bolster the power of their boards of directors. In letters to the top 200 Standard & Poor's companies, the $80-billion California Public Employees Retirement System applauded a recently disclosed GM policy and urged other firms to take similar steps.

The California secretary of state's office, moving to encourage corporations to place more minorities and women on their boards of directors, has lined up Cal State Fullerton to establish a database of qualified applicants and corporations seeking their services. A computer will match candidates with companies based on candidates' qualifications, experience and education.

Marje Everett, who has run Hollywood Park for the past 18 years, might be ousted before the end of the year. A major stock purchase and promise of a proxy fight by R.D. Hubbard, the owner of race tracks in Ruidoso, N.M., and Kansas City, Kan., leaves Everett, 68, with the strongest challenge to her power since she took over in 1972.