NACD Awards 2009 Nonprofit Company Director of the Year to J. Shan Mullin

Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2009) – The National Association of Corporate Directors today announced that J. Shan Mullin, partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle, is named as NACD's 2009 Nonprofit Director of the Year for his decades of dedicated leadership of major nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest. 

During the past 10 years he has focused on biomedical research and health care by serving on the planning committee for the formation of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (and as SCCA board chair for three years) and as co-chair of the state-wide committee that planned for the formation of the Life Science Discovery Fund for the State of Washington. During this time he has also served as board chair for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and as a board member and Chair of Compliance for UW Medicine (the University of Washington health system).

Shan Mullin also has served as the board chair for other nonprofits, including: United Way of King County, Leadership Tomorrow, Alliance for Education, Municipal League of King County and the Norman Archibald Charitable Foundation.  Earlier this year, Mullin was awarded the regional Nonprofit Director of the Year award by the NACD Seattle-Northwest Chapter. 

“It is my honor to recognize Mr. Mullin for his immense achievements, guidance and leadership in corporate governance,” said Kenneth Daly, President and CEO of NACD. “Mr. Mullin has demonstrated an incredible ability to provide boardroom leadership in challenging and complex times and is respected by his peers as a personal model of courage, candor and integrity, to which all corporate directors can aspire.”

 “Shan has an uncanny ability to bring people to consensus, even when it does not seem as though that is possible,” said Richard E. Jones, CPA, President and CEO, Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants and the current chair of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  “He understands the art of the deal and knows how to get things done when they do not seem doable.”

NACD Director of the Year winners are nominated by NACD members and chapters and are selected based upon stringent criteria reviewed by a NACD selection committee. Each of the four awards, for lifetime achievement, public, private, and nonprofit directors, honors an individual board member who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in promoting the principles and best practices of good corporate governance.

About NACD: Founded in 1977, the National Association for Corporate Directors (NACD) is the only member-based nonprofit organization for corporate directors providing tools, professional support and the platform for making corporate directors more effective in boardrooms across the country. With nearly 10,000 members, NACD improves director performance by empowering members through education, a forum for peers to share ideas, and an extensive knowledge base of information and publications. NACD fosters collaboration among directors and governance influencers to shape the future of corporate governance.