Five keys to success topic of Jan. 30 lecture

Five keys to success topic of Jan. 30 lecture
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Public confidence
in corporations is the lowest it has been in more than 20
years. Corporate scandals have shaken investor confidence
and rendered global markets highly volatile because of serious
doubts about corporate governance and practices in ethics.

Yet many companies
continue to deliver valued products and services and give
shareholders a solid return on their investments.

What foundations
do these companies have in place that make them successful
in today’s climate?

In a lecture
titled “How To Succeed in Business Despite World Events
or Market Uncertainties: Five Foundation Elements,”
Steven Miller, chief executive officer of SLM Discovery
Ventures, will examine the inherent characteristics of a
successful business today and the issues companies will
need to address in order to succeed in the 21st century.

Alumni, students,
faculty and staff are invited to attend the lecture to be
held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, in the Shell Auditorium,
Room 108, in the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.
The lecture is hosted by Rice President Malcolm Gillis,
the Jones School and the James A. Baker III Institute for
Public Policy. A reception will follow the lecture in Room
115.

Miller is the
former chairman, president and CEO of Shell Oil. Before
retiring in September 2002, he headed one of America’s
leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers
and petrochemical manufacturers.

Miller serves
on the boards of a number of local and national organizations
and institutions, including the Greater Houston Partnership,
Rice’s Board of Trustees and the board of advisers
for the Baker Institute. He is a trustee for the United
Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, director of the National Urban
League and the Points of Light Foundation and serves on
the George C. Marshall Foundation board of trustees. Miller
also serves as a trustee of the University of Illinois Foundation.

A native of Kansas
City, Mo., Miller has a bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering from the University of Illinois.