[August 25, 2011]

Corporate Directors Forum Names Six San Diego Executives 2011 Director of the Year Honorees

To recognize outstanding leaders who have made a difference in the boardroom and behind the scenes, Corporate Directors Forum is honoring six of San Diego's top executives with Director of the Year awards for their ethical conduct, integrity and high standards in corporate governance.

"Corporate Directors Forum believes better boards make better companies, and these honorees have been essential to their organizations," said Jack Yelverton, Director of the Year chairman. "Being a director is both a challenging and important job, and they have provided exceptional knowledge, insight and direction to their companies."

Awards will be presented Sept. 14 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego. Directors being recognized include:

Gary W. Pace, director, ResMed, honored as Director of the Year for Corporate Governance. A director for ResMed since 1994, Pace serves as both lead director and chairman of the nominating and governance committees, assuring that due process is followed. With more than 40 years of experience in the development and commercialization of advanced technologies, spanning biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, he also brings tremendous technical acumen to the board.

Jay T. Flatley, president and CEO, Illumina Inc., honored as Director of the Year for Enhancement of Economic Value. Flatley was appointed president and CEO of Illumina in 1999. He has taken the company from $1.3 million in sales in 2000 to more than $1 billion in sales in 2010, epresenting a compound annual growth rate in excess of 90 percent. Illumina's stock has increased approximately 900 percent during the past five years.

Lisa Suennen, Director, PatientSafe Solutions Inc., honored as Director of the Year for Companies in Transition. Suennen has been a director for Patient Safe Solutions since February 2003, where she serves as a member of both the executive and compensation committees. She has been an integral part of the company's transition from a bedside barcode medication administration system to a next generation handheld product, completing a recapitalization and new equity financing for the company.

Alexis V. Lukianov, chairman and CEO, NuVasive Inc., honored as Director of the Year for Corporate Citizenship. Lukianov has been the CEO of NuVasive since 1999 and was elected chairman in 2004. In 2009, with the support of shareowners, he established the Cheetah Gives Back Foundation (CGB), which provides innovative medical devices, surgical training and funds to help those in need of life-changing spine surgery. To date, the foundation has raised nearly $850,000 and NuVasive has donated approximately $7,000,000 in products to support the foundation's missions.

Darlene Marcos Shiley, director, University of San Diego's Board of Trustees and others, honored as Director of the Year for Corporate Governance, Not-for-Profit. Shiley has been a member of the USD's Board of Trustees for 21 years, serving as chair from 2007-2010. She is currently on the executive committee and committee on trustees. During her tenure as chair, she guided the unprecedented growth and development at the university, helping it exceed its $200 million fundraising goal.

Irwin Jacobs, director, various boards, recognized for Lifetime Achievement in Corporate Governance. Jacobs joined the Salk Institute board of trustees in 2006 and currently serves as chair of the board. He is an advocate for good corporate governance, establishing director self-evaluations and annual governance reviews, and assists in the recruitment of other directors. He co-founded and served as chair and CEO of LINKABIT Corp. until 1985 when he co-founded Qualcomm (News - Alert). Jacobs led Qualcomm from startup to being a Fortune 500 Company with more than 20,000 employees.

The Director of the Year Awards dinner is open to the public and ticket prices are $225 per person or $2,000 for a table of 10. Sponsorships are also available. To make reservations, please call 858/455-7930 or e-mail [email protected].

Corporate Directors Forum was founded in 1991. Its purpose is to help directors be better directors through education and peer networking. CDF's core beliefs are that boards are strategic assets of corporations, education makes better directors, better directors make better boards and better boards make better corporations.

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