2018 Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award Recipient: Dr. Julie A. Shimer,Corporate Director and Executive
OnBoard, the leading authority on women in the boardroom and executive suites of Georgia public companies and a catalyst to increase female directors on all for-profit company boards, announces the recipient of its 16th annual Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award.Dr. Julie A. Shimer was honored at OnBoard’s Annual Awards Dinner on Nov.8, 2018.
Shimer currently serves as a director for several publicly traded companies. She is a directorof Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE: AVNS), formerly Halyard Health, Inc., a medical device manufacturer based in Alpharetta, with 4,000 employees and annual revenue of about $650 million. Shimer is a director of Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN), a Fortune 500 company that is a leading providerof advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, small businesses,and enterprise organizations. Windstream merged with EarthLink Holdings Corporation(NASDAQ: ELNK), an Atlanta-based company, in February 2017. Prior to the merger, Shimerwas the chairwoman of EarthLink’s board, and the company had 14,500 employees and annual revenue of $960 million.
Shimer is also a director of Netgear, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), aglobal networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, with 1,000 employees and annual revenue of $1.4 billion. She is the lead independent director of Netgear’s board. And Shimer is a director of Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. (NASDAQ: APEN), a medical device company focused on less invasive therapies for the treatment of obesity, with 210 employees and annual revenue of $64 million. She is the chairwoman of that board’s Compensation Committee.
Shimer’s nomination for the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans honor was led byRon Dollens, chairman of the board of directors for Avanos Medical, Inc. “Julie has and continues to have an extraordinary career as a corporate director, including for companies with significant connections to Georgia. Her impact on corporate governance is significant. At Avanos Medical alone, she ledthe company in its recognition as a 2020 Women on Boards Winning ‘W’ Company, ledthe Compensation Committee to establish the company’s compensation philosophy and structure, chaired the task force that successfully executed a CEO transition in 2017, andoversawthe transformation of the CEO’s direct reports to a leadership team that is 40% diverse.”
Shimer has had an extraordinary career as a corporate executive. She served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Innovation Officer of Welch Allyn, a global manufacturer of frontline medical equipment and solutions, with 2,500 employees and annual revenue of $700 million, from 2007 until 2012. She was the first woman CEO in the company’s 95-year history. Shimer also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Vocera Communications, a wireless communication company, from 2001 to 2007. Prior to being a CEO, she held executive positions at such notable corporations and research centers as 3Com Corporation, Motorola, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Bethlehem Steel Company.
“Julie has devoted herself, throughout her career, to promoting the role of women in executive leadership and on for-profit boards,” says Cheri Husney, President of OnBoard and the Executive Director – Marketing for KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory services firm, which sponsors the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award. “She is an outstanding role model for advancing the mission of OnBoard and very deserving of the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award.Julie’s leadership has involved connecting undergraduates pursuing STEM degrees with female mentors from industry and academia, inspiring the next generation of female engineers, and promoting the advancement of aviation among women pilots through education and scholarships. We are honored to have Julie among OnBoard’s prestigious group of Award recipients and pleased that she was nominated by Avanos, a ‘Power of 3’ company having 3 women on the board”
The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award is designed to recognize women serving on for-profit corporate boards. Qualifications for the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award include an overall commitment to professional excellence, excellence in the business profession or community leadership, advocating more diversity on corporate boards, and supporting women in realizing their full potential.It is named in honor of Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, one of the first women to serve as a director of a major American corporation. In 1934,Ms. Evans was appointed to the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company, a position she held for nearly 20 years.
OnBoard’s Annual Awards and Study Dinner,held November 8th,was the 26th anniversary of the OnBoard study reporting on the state of women leadership in Georgia.
About OnBoard:
OnBoard (www.onboardnow.org), formerly the Board of Directors Network (BDN), was founded in 1993 with the initial focus of increasing the number of women on corporate boards of both public and private companies. Now OnBoard is the leading authority on women in the boardrooms and in executive leadership of Georgia public companies. The organization has published, since 1993, original research on women’s progress in Georgia public board and C-suite positions. OnBoard’s strategy is to advocate for more women in these positions, inspire by recognizing the role models of women on boards and in the pipeline and connect women to board opportunities.
