Release Date: January 23, 2002

James C. Jacobsen, vice chairman of the Kellwood Company and a member of Monmouth College’s Board of Trustees, will deliver the 10th Wendell Whiteman Memorial Lecture April 18 at 11 a.m. in the Monmouth College Auditorium.

Entitled "From the Liberal Arts to the Global Economy," Jacobsen's lecture is free and open to the public.

“In the past decade, many of our Whiteman Lecturers have had ties to Monmouth College,” said college president Richard F. Giese. “That’s certainly the case again this year, as Mr. Jacobsen has served on our board 17 years. I’m sure he will treat our students and the community to an outstanding talk on what it takes to run a successful business.”

Jacobsen earned his bachelor’s degree from Lake Forest College and his master’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois. After having served in financial management positions in companies including Price Waterhouse and Penn-Dixie Industries and Continental Steel Corporation, he joined Kellwood in 1975 as its treasurer and vice president for finance.

Organized in 1961, Kellwood Company is a $2.2 billion multidivisional marketer of apparel and recreational camping products. Its sourcing structure includes 35 owned factories and more than 700 contractors located in the United States and 30 foreign countries. The company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1973.

“We are delighted that Jim will be our speaker this year,” said Ralph Whiteman, one of the founders of the event. “We strive to attract the very best in business to present this lecture, and it’s a special pleasure when that individual also has a Monmouth background.”

A certified public accountant, Jacobsen is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Financial Executives Institute. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the International Apparel Foundation, of which he is a past president; the American Apparel Manufacturers Association, of which he is immediate past chairman and CEO; the Caribbean/Latin American Action Commitee, of which he is vice president; the United Way of Greater St. Louis, of which he is treasurer; Maryville University; Boys Hope/Girls Hope based in St. Louis; and The Mercantile Funds, Inc.

He is married to Dorothy Barrett Jacobsen, a 1957 Monmouth College graduate.

The Whiteman Lecture is named in memory of Wendell F. Whiteman, a Monmouth College alumnus and long-time executive of Security Savings Bank in Monmouth. Sponsored by the Whiteman family, the lecture annually brings a noted business executive or scholar to the MC campus. 

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330

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