Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., is a Senior Managing Director of Lazard Freres
& Co, LLC in New York. He works with a diverse group of clients across
a broad range of industries.
Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Jordan was a Senior Executive Partner
with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, where he
remains Senior Counsel. While there Mr. Jordan practiced general,
corporate, legislative, and international law in Washington, D.C.
Before Akin Gump, Mr. 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; Georgia Field
Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People; and an attorney in private practice in Arkansas and Georgia.
Mr. 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, Mr. Jordan served as
the Chairman of the Clinton Presidential Transition Team.
Mr. Jordan's corporate and other directorships include American
Express Company; Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.; Howard University
(Trustee); J. C. Penney Company, Inc.; Lazard Ltd.; Xerox Corporation;
and the International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold.
Mr. 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 and he is President of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
Mr. Jordan is the author of Vernon Can Read! A Memoir (Public Affairs,
2001).