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Wharton Leader
G. Morris Dorrance, W’49
A Quiet Leader in Banking
A fervent practitioner of corporate
self-analysis and responsibility,
G. Morris Dorrance, Jr., succeeded
in turning around the venerable
CoreStates Financial Corp. via cost-cutting
measures, establishing conservative banking
practices, and insisting on accountability —
attributes that reflect his personality.
Retiring as chairman and chief executive
officer of CoreStates in December 1987,
Dorrance led the banking organization for 18
years after starting at its PNB subsidiary in
1951 as an assistant cashier.
The Philadelphia Inquirer described his retirement
as, “No fuss, no fanfare, no nostalgic,
nonsensical chatter,” adding that, “It’s the
Dorrance way. And CoreStates is not unlike
its chairman.”
Banking analyst James D. Lowry noted
that CoreStates had strengthened by being
“Solid, not flashy,” while another analyst described
the bank as “one of the best regional
franchises in the country.”
And although the bank was criticized in
1985 when some observers suggested it had
overpaid for acquiring New Jersey National
Bank, the bank under Dorrance’s quiet leadership
focused on novel services, including the
MAC (Money Access Card) system, electronic
payments, data processing, and point-ofsale
services while reducing risky Third World
loans. But by 1986, CoreStates finished
fourth in Salomon Bros.’ annual ranking of
35 of America’s major banking companies.
“Morrie has done a superb job; he’s run a
solid, conservative organization that’s had a
spectacular record,” said Roger S. Hillas, then
chairman of competitor PNC.
Today, the legacy of CoreStates and
Dorrance live on in the world’s largest banking
institutions. CoreStates merged with First
Union in the largest merger in U.S. banking
history at that time in 1998. And in 2001, First
Union merged with Wachovia Bank, again, one
of the greatest mergers in banking history.
Dorrance’s exceptional accomplishments
have made him a welcome member on trustee
boards, including Fox Chase Cancer Center,
where he’s served as board chairman, and
Wharton’s SEI Center for Advanced Studies
in Management.
Wharton Leader
Henry Posner III, WG’83
Railroad Developer,
Adventure Capitalist
 Henry Posner III’s preference for
bowties gives him a distinctive
early-20th-century look. It’s
fitting, as he straddles the railroad-powered culture of yesteryear America
and the daring, forward-thinking global endeavor
that Forbes magazine, in a profile,
called “adventure capitalism.”
As the child of a prominent businessman
and philanthropist growing up in
Pittsburgh, young Posner caught train fever,
and the fever never broke. The company he
founded in 1987, Railroad Development
Corporation (RDC), now owns railroads on
four continents.
Soon after Congress created it in 1976,
Posner joined Conrail and worked for 10
years in the operating, marketing, and sales
departments. He met his wife, Anne
Molloy, WG’79, at Conrail.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
called Posner, who also earned a B.S.
in civil engineering from Princeton
University, “one of the world’s few
experts in resurrecting broken-down
freight rail lines in Third World
countries,” one who has helped
privatize railroads in Mozambique,
Malawi, and most recently, Estonia.
“We usually don’t understand the
culture or politics, but we do understand
the railroad business. We
work with local partners to integrate the best
practices of railroading with the local culture,
economy, politics, etc.,” Posner told the
Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. In fact, the
staff of RDC numbers fewer than 10. The
boss is very hands-on, and travels internationally
upwards of 20 times year, often driving
the trains he deals in.
The multilingual Posner has often lectured
and published on his favorite subject,
trains, with a particular emphasis
on developing countries. And his knowledge
is much in demand — Posner serves
as chairman of RDC, Iowa Interstate
Railroad, and Ferrovias Guatemala; director
of America Latina Logistica-Central
in Argentina, Eesti Raudtee in Estonia;
alternate director of the Association of
American Railroads; and as vice president
of the Hawthorne Group, a private investment
and management firm. He is active
in welfare programs for the Jewish community
in the former Soviet Union and is
the recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship
from Rotary International for his civic
work in Guatemala. |
