Sept. 18, 2002

Contact: George Bittlingmayer, School of Business, (785) 864-7541.

KU business school to host conference on corporate governance and disclosure

LAWRENCE -- In a time when the financial system based on trust, reputation and oversight has experienced some noteworthy failures at Enron, WorldCom and others, the University of Kansas School of Business is bringing in experts to discuss the current state and the future of corporate governance and corporate disclosure.

At 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 27, KU's annual Ken Wagnon Conference will feature a lecture by George Benston, followed by a panel discussion, at the Ritz Charles conference facility, 137th and Antioch in Overland Park.

Benston, John H. Harland professor of finance, accounting and economics at Emory University in Atlanta and Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee member at the American Enterprise Institute, will discuss "Corporate Control, Corporate Disclosure."

Panelists include moderator Henry Butler, professor of economics at Chapman University; Jennifer Bethel, associate professor and chair of finance at Babson College; Margaret Blair, Sloan visiting professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center; Sanjai Bhagat, professor of finance at the University of Colorado; Harold Bradley, senior vice president of strategic investments, American Century Investments; Kenneth Bertsch, director of corporate governance, TIAA-CREF; and Forrest Hoglund, chair and CEO of Arctic Resources Company Ltd.

The annual Ken Wagnon Conference is made possible by the generous gift of Ken Wagnon of Wichita to the KU School of Business. Cost for the program is $50 and includes lunch. For reservations or more information, contact the KU Center for Management Education, (785) 864-7581. Deadline for reservations is Sept. 20.