» Meet our Senior Management.

Nell Minow — Editor and Co-Founder

Ms. Minow was named one of the 20 most influential people in corporate governance by Directorship magazine in 2007 and was dubbed "the queen of good corporate governance" by BusinessWeek Online in 2003.  Prior to co-founding The Corporate Library, Ms. Minow was a Principal of Lens, a $100 million investment firm that took positions in underperforming companies and used shareholder activism to increase their value.  Her other professional experience includes serving as President of Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. and as an attorney at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Justice.  She has received a number of awards, most recently Albany Law School's Kate Stoneman Award in 2009, awarded to individuals in the legal profession who have demonstrated a commitment to actively seeking change and expanding opportunities for women.  Ms. Minow was also the sole recipient of the International Corporate Governance Network Award in 2008 for exceptional achievement in the field of corporate governance.  She has authored more than 200 articles and co-authored three books with Robert A.G. Monks, most recently the 4th edition of an MBA textbook called Corporate Governance, published in 2008.  Ms. Minow is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Chicago Law School.

Richard A. Bennett — Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Bennett has an extensive background in politics and government service as well as a wide range of private sector experience, including the founding and management of several businesses. He worked as Director of Corporate Governance for Lens Investment Management from 1997 to 2002. A former president of the Maine State Senate, Mr. Bennett served four terms in the Maine Senate and two terms in the state's House of Representatives. He is an independent director of Biddeford Internet Corporation and a non-executive director of Trucost, Plc, a U.K.-based firm offering products and services that allow companies, governments and fund managers to better understand their environmental performance. Mr. Bennett has been written about in Pensions & Investments, The Daily Deal and Barron's, and has been cited in numerous publications including Business Week, USA Today, Fortune and The Wall Street Journal. Most recently, he was recognized by Directorship magazine in its list of the 100 "most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom." Mr. Bennett has spoken publicly about corporate governance issues at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Columbia University, the USC Marshall School of Business and The Conference Board, among other institutions. He is a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. He graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1986 and received his M.B.A. from the University of Southern Maine in 2000.

Drew R. Buckley — Sales and Marketing Officer

Mr. Buckley has more than 25 years of experience in business development, strategic marketing and sales, and organizational management. He served as a Senior Staff Consultant at Verizon Information Services, providing organizational change leadership through two mega-mergers. He has undertaken leadership roles within Verizon in Product Management and National Accounts Management, directing and expanding the market for a line of business-to-consumer database marketing products. For more than ten years he led Buckley & Associates, a consulting firm that provided business planning, market development, and research and training services on a national and international level. Mr. Buckley holds an M.A. in Organizational Management from the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California, and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern Maine.

John Kipp — Vice President of Finance and Administration

Mr. Kipp has more than 30 years of experience in public accounting and in the financial management of manufacturing, distribution, financial, and service industries.  He has worked in businesses with as few as three employees to as many as 6,000. Most recently, Mr. Kipp co-owned and served as vice president of Parker & Smith Fine Metal Castings, where he and his wife oversaw all aspects of the company's manufacturing and retail operation.  Among his earlier accomplishments, he worked to transform a high-turnover department at Maine Wireless into an effective and productive service organization and helped secure financing for Futureguard Manufacturing Co. Mr. Kipp's role at The Corporate Library spans all human resource management as well as involving leadership in finance, accounting, and office management. He earned a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University, a B.S. in Data Processing from Westbrook College and an M.B.A. from New York University. Having started his Maine career with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co., he was a CPA for 28 years.

James G. Cox — Data Operations Officer

Mr. Cox has more than ten years of experience in data analysis and management. He served in increasing capacities at Steptoe & Johnson and Woodard & Curran, managing the teams responsible for processing and analyzing all produced data in several large-scale environmental litigations.  He played a key analytical role at One Beacon Insurance as a Financial Analyst, providing database expertise and financial reporting for the commercial lines business segment. Mr. Cox holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern Maine, and an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University.

Edward R. Ropple — Chief Information Officer
Mr. Ropple is a veteran technology manager, having spent many years consulting or employed within the healthcare and financial industries.  He most recently worked 6 years for T.D. Banknorth in Lewiston, Maine, as Vice President, Manager of the Solutions Architecture group, focusing on departmental work processes, and integration of acquired and existing networks.  He has a deep management background and is experienced in professional development and training of the teams he managed. From 1998 to 2001, he was first a Technical Advisor, then the Executive Director in Network Technology Practice at Superior Consultant Co. in Southfield, Michigan.  He developed scope and requirements for proposed projects and provided leadership and supervision for technical advisors and consultants.  Previously, from 1990 to 1998, he worked at several businesses in Maine: one as Interim Network Manager and Architect at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine, where he facilitated upgrading Ethernet, email and other network systems; another at Connecting Point in Portland, Maine and MSC, Inc., in Windham, Maine, where he specialized in installation and maintenance of client-server networks and operating systems. Mr. Ropple holds several certifications, including Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Trainer.  He currently lives with his wife and two sons in Casco, Maine.

Ric Marshall — Chief Analyst

Mr. Marshall is responsible for The Corporate Library's strategic planning and guidance and is in charge of product development and implementation, especially with regard to technical deployment. Mr. Marshall is a founding principal of The Corporate Library and is the chief architect of its Board Analyst® database, proprietary ratings system, Governance Information Screening Tool® (GIST), and, with analyst Jackie Cook, the Director Interlocks relationship mapping tool. The former Chief Information Officer of Lens Investment Management, Mr. Marshall has been involved with corporate governance research since 1996. Prior to this, he was active in the fields of computer consulting and computer-based graphic design, having consulted with Lens Investment Management as early as 1989. Mr. Marshall has been a guest speaker and panelist at corporate governance conferences throughout the United States and has written extensively on investing in corporate governance.

Kimberly Gladman, CFA, Ph.D. — Director of Research and Ratings

Dr. Gladman oversees The Corporate Library's research practice and leads a group of analysts responsible for governance ratings.  Before joining The Corporate Library in 2008, she managed a team of associates researching global corporations at Domini Social Investments, a leading socially responsible investment fund manager.  She also served as Lead SRI Analyst for Domini's European equity fund, and spent several years participating in the firm's shareholder advocacy on social, environmental, and governance issues.  Before joining Domini in 2001, Dr. Gladman had an academic career, focused on interdisciplinary research and teaching.  She earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1990, and a Ph.D. from New York University in 2001.  Dr. Gladman also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.