2011 Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. is a Senior Managing Director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in New York. He works with a diverse group of clients across a broad range of industries.

Prior to joining Lazard, Jordan was a Senior Executive Partner with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, where he remains Senior Counsel. While there Jordan practiced general, corporate, legislative and international law in Washington, D.C.

Before Akin Gump, Jordan held the following positions: President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League, Inc.; Executive Director of the United Negro College Fund, Inc.; Director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council; Attorney-Consultant, U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity; Assistant to the Executive Director of the Southern Regional Council; and Georgia Field Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was also an attorney in private practice in Arkansas and Georgia.

Jordan’s presidential appointments include: the President’s Advisory Committee for the Points of Light Initiative Foundation; the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on South Africa; the Advisory Council on Social Security; the Presidential Clemency Board; the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission; the National Advisory Committee on Selective Service; and the Council of the White House Conference “To Fulfill These Rights.” In 1992, Jordan served as the Chairman of the Clinton Presidential Transition Team.

Jordan’s corporate and other directorships include: American Express Company (Senior Advisor); Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.; Howard University (Trustee); Lazard Ltd; Xerox Corporation (Senior Advisor); International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold.

Jordan is a graduate of DePauw University and the Howard University Law School. He holds honorary degrees from more than 60 colleges and universities in America. He is a member of the Bars of Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Council on Foreign Relations and The Bilderberg Meetings. Jordan is the author of Vernon Can Read! A Memoir and Make It Plain, Standing Up and Speaking Out.