MINNEAPOLIS – General Mills, Inc. on Dec. 15 elected Roger W. Ferguson Jr. and Eric D. Sprunk to its board of directors.
Since 2008, Mr. Ferguson has been chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF, a financial services group based in New York. Earlier he was chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corp., vice-chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors and a partner at McKinsey & Company. He also serves as a director of International Flavors & Fragrances and is on the advisory board of Brevan Howard Asset Management L.L.P.
The chief operating officer of Nike, Inc., in Boston, Mr. Sprunk has been with the company since 1993 in various management positions including regional general manager of Nike Europe footwear, vice-president and general manager of the Americas, vice-president of global footwear and vice-president of merchandising and product. He has held his current post since 2013. Earlier, Mr. Sprunk was with Price Waterhouse, an accounting firm.
General Mills said Mr. Ferguson will serve on the board’s corporate governance and finance committees, and Mr. Sprunk was named to the Board’s audit and public responsibility committees.
The company announced no board retirements in connection with the additions. In its 2015 proxy statement, the company noted two new directors had been appointed in 2014. Those directors are David M. Cordani, president and chief executive officer of Cigna Corp., and Henrietta H. Fore, chairman and chief executive officer of Holsman International.
“Over the next three years, we expect to appoint additional directors to succeed board members who will be retiring in accordance with our director tenure policy,” the company said in the August 2015 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Four members of the General Mills board were 70 years old or older as of the time of the S.E.C. filing.
Separately on Dec. 15, the board declared a regular quarterly dividend of 44c per share, payable Feb. 1 to shareholders of record Jan. 11. The payout rate was increased 7% in May 2015. The dividend payment will extend the company’s 117 year track record of paying dividends without interruption.
