R. William “Bill” Ide is Chairman of The Conference Board Governance Center^® Advisory Board and Program Director of the Council of Chief Legal Officers. He is also of counsel to the Akerman LLP , law firm. His practice focuses on representing boards of directors, audit committees, and management with special investigations, crisis management, ethics, corporate governance, and strategic projects.

Ide currently serves on the boards of MetaJure and Rimidi. Mr. Ide previously served as a member of the board of directors of Albemarle Corporation where he chaired the Governance Committee and served on the Audit and Compensation Committees. He also served as a member of the board of directors of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. where he chaired the Executive and Governance Committees.

Ide has also served as a senior fellow and co-founder of Emory University’s Directors Institute, and chaired its Governance Committee. He serves on the Audit Committee of the Clark Atlanta University Board of Trustees. He was General Counsel and Secretary of the EastWest Institute, served on the Audit Committee, and was chair of the Executive Committee.

Ide formerly served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Monsanto Company. He was counsel to the United States Olympic Committee and President of the American Bar Association.

Ide has lectured extensively and published numerous articles on corporate governance. He received his BA, cum laude, from Washington and Lee University, JD from the University of Virginia, (Law Review, Order of the Coif) and MBA from Georgia State University. He was admitted to the Bar in both Georgia and the District of Columbia.

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