NEWARK — Top corporate governance expert and lawyer Lawrence Cunningham, a founder of Quality Shareholders Group, was recently named the new director of University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, one of the oldest and venerated corporate governance centers in academia.
Cunningham succeeds veteran securities lawyer Justin Klein of Ballad Spahr, who recently completed a three-year term. The 24-year-old center operates under UD’s Lerner College of Business & Economics, and was established by one of the leading voices in corporate law, Charles Elson. Elson had served as director until he stepped down in 2020.
A seven-member search committee of advisors and facilities, including former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery Andre Bouchard, chose Cunningham, who is a Blue Hen alumni. He also served for a decade on the Lerner College Dean’s NYC Advisory Council, and has participated in many UD and Weinberg Center events over the years. He also delivered the 2024 Weinberg Distinguished Lecture.
Cunningham told the Delaware Business Times he sees himself as a serial entrepreneur, even though he spent much of his career in law and academic circles. He founded Quality Shareholder Group, a boutique firm that leverages market research to help develop strategies for long-term investors.
Cunnigham also serves as vice chairman of the board at Constellation Software Inc. which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and also is a director at Markel Group (New York Stock Exchange) and Kelly Partners Group (Australian Stock Exchange). Since 2022, he has also served as special counsel at Mayer Brown for corporate governance matters.
His storied career includes stops at Cravath, Swaine & Moore as well as teaching at Cardozo School of Law, Boston College and George Washington University. He told the Delaware Business Times that the Weinberg Center not only offers a chance to come home to his roots, it’s an opportunity to guide one of the top-ranked centers out there.
“There’s only a handful of corporate governance centers in the world, and its immediate rivals are Harvard, Stanford and Columbia. It’s even more unique among that group because it’s based in the corporate capital of the world,” Cunningham said. “There’s a well-developed ecosystem that caters to corporate America here that other states don’t have, and people look to the state and its leaders for its guidance.”
Cunningham added that while he’s spent years studying and participating in corporate law, he hopes he’s the right man for the right moment.
“We’re in the middle of an exciting moment where the spotlight is on Delaware like never before,” he said, referencing X and Tesla owner Elon Musk’s long running commentary about the First State and its Chancery Court. “There’s other states that would like to be the leader, and I welcome the challenge as Nevada and Texas are trying to emulate Delaware to secure that chartering business. But Delaware’s corporate law is a living, vibrant document that evolves with complex issues that come with the times.”
Looking forward to his tenure, Cunningham said that he aims to keep to a consistent path with his first year and maintain current programs and assets in place, including events that draw investors, board of directors, professors and more to UD. He would also like to focus on how the center can add more to the conversation through articles in law reviews.
“I think the mix of programming has been more panels than papers, and over time, I’d like to build up the paper part some more,” Cunningham said. “I write a lot, between 20 columns every year and six academic ones. I want to bring that energy here. But I’ll try to really master the Delaware perspective in the process.”
Cunningham will start the position on Sept. 23.
