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Cheryl Francis is a Director of three corporate boards: Aon Corporation, HNI Corporation and Morningstar. She serves on the Finance and Compensation Committees for Aon, Audit Committee Chair and on the Compensation Committee for Morningstar and is a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee for HNI. Cheryl co-founded and co-chairs Corporate leadership Center and formerly served on the board of Hewitt Associates and Lands' End.
Cheryl was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. from 1995 to 2000. She oversaw all financial functions, including mergers and acquisitions, of this $5 billion print services company. Under her leadership, all major management processes were revamped and aligned with value-based metrics, the business portfolio and capital structure were restructured, and shared services were introduced to increase transaction processing efficiency. These initiatives led to the repurchase of $1.2 billion of stock, the restructuring of over $2 billion in company sales, and an improvement in return on investment to greater than 14% and a return on equity greater than 23%. Cash generation from the base businesses increased more than $200 million per year, while organic revenue grew faster than industry indices.
Earlier in her career, Cheryl was Treasurer of FMC Corporation and its first woman officer. She was also an adjunct faculty member of the University of Chicago Booth School of business for 3 years, teaching in the business policy area.
Education
Cheryl earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her MBA from the University of Chicago. She graduated first in her class in both cases and received several academic awards. She is a frequent lecturer and panelist in University and business settings. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and created the highly-rated Women's Leadership Forum, an Executive Education seminar.
Non-Profit
In addition to her role as Co-Chairman of Corporate Leadership Center, Cheryl serves on the Board of Trustees of Cornell University, and Chairs the Audit Committee, the Advisory Council of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the board of The Finance Committee, where she was also a founding member of its Women's Initiative. Cheryl is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network.
Awards and Recognition
Cheryl has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Treasury & Risk Management and CFO magazine. She was honored for Community Leadership by the YWCA.
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