Minneapolis-based retail food giant General Mills enhanced its relationship with Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business recently when it elected the school's dean, Paul Danos, to its 13-member board of directors.
Danos will join Stephen Demeritt '65 Tu'66, the board's vice chairman, and Christina Shea Tu'77, the president of the General Mills Foundation, to advise the company at formal meetings five to six times a year.
Danos, who also serves on the boards of BJ's Wholesale Club and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, said he is excited for the opportunity to participate in a corporation as distinguished as General Mills.
"I think it's really kind of an exciting prospect to be involved with a company whose brand is so well-known and whose products are used in so many households," Danos said.
General Mills, best known for its cereal brands that include Cheerios, also markets Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Yoplait yogurt and Betty Crocker and Pillsbury baked goods.
Given the company's products, which are bought and consumed by much of the nation, Danos indicated he felt a strong sense of duty in his prominent new position.
"It's a big responsibility, I think, to make it [General Mills' product] as healthful as possible and affordable as possible, as it affects the lives of a lot of people," Danos said.
Danos' association with the Tuck School, whose alumni are influential in the General Mills organization, was instrumental in his election to the Board.
"Tuck has always had several people in the management of the corporation, so Tuck has a relationship," Danos said. "It's true it has alumni who work for the corporation, and I've known many of the corporate managers at General Mills over the years, and they come to campus for recruiting purposes."
Tuck, too, stands to benefit from Danos' new roll within the General Mills organization, both from strengthened connections to the corporate world and the business insights Danos will gain.
"As dean of a business school, being on boards of corporations gives you insight to business management that you really can't get any other way; so it really is an educational experience for me," Danos said.
Aside from his position as dean at Tuck, Danos brings a bevy of business experience to General Mills.
Specializing in financial accounting as the Laurence F. Whittemore professor of business administration at Tuck, Danos has published numerous works, including the 1994 second edition of "Introduction to Financial Accounting," with Eugene Imhoff. Although he does not teach frequently at Tuck, Danos contributes to certain courses, such as the school's ethics course.
Prior to his position at Tuck, Danos was senior associate dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan.
