President of GM to serve as VCU Thalhimer family Executive-in-Residence

By Lissette Linares

G. Richard Wagoner Jr., president and chief operating officer of General Motors Corporation and one of the nation’s top business leaders, will serve as the 1999-2000 Charles G. Thalhimer Family Executive-in-Residence at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business on Feb. 16-17.

During his visit, Wagoner will meet with students, faculty and the regional business community to discuss business strategy and the automobile industry. He will give a general presentation on Feb. 17 at 9:30 a.m., in the VCU Student Commons’ Commonwealth Ballroom, 907 Floyd Ave. The presentation is free and open to the public.

As head of GM’s North American Operations, Wagoner, 46, has been attributed with reviving GM by implementing a series of cost-cutting decisions and by reshaping the way the company designs and builds cars. In the early 1990s, Wagoner boosted Brazilian operations by modernizing the product lineup. As chief financial officer of GM, he helped streamline operations, turning multi-billion dollar losses into multi-billion dollar profits.

The Charles G. Thalhimer Family Executive-in-Residence Lecture, established in 1984, is designed to bring nationally and internationally prominent business leaders to the VCU campus for interaction with students, community leaders, faculty and the public.

For more information, call the VCU School of Business at (804) 828-1745.