Business and Management Lecture: "The Great Recession - Two Perspectives"

GALESBURG -- "The Great Recession - Two Perspectives" will be the topic at a lecture given by two executives of national corporations: the former Washington Mutual Bank (now JP Morgan Chase), and Ford Motor Company. The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Ferris Lounge of Seymour Union on the Knox College campus. It is free and open to the public. The lecture is co-hosted by the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce.

William A. Longbrake, retired vice chair of Washington Mutual Bank and currently executive in residence at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park will deliver the lecture along with John Lawler, controller, U.S. Marketing and Sales, Ford Motor Company. Both are members of Knox College's Business Advisory Council which advises and supports Knox's business & management program.

The lecture will look at the causes of the Great Recession of 2008-09, current economic conditions and recovery prospects, lessons learned, and the changes that are likely and needed to prevent a recurrence. The speakers also will share their personal experiences at two large national corporations that have seen the recession play out in very different ways. Washington Mutual was one of the first banks, and the largest, to fail during the crisis, eventually merging into JP Morgan Chase. Ford Motor Company was the only U.S.-based automotive manufacturer to avoid bankruptcy during the recent financial crisis.

In addition to his work at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Longbrake is currently a director for First Financial Northwest, a community bank located in Renton, Washington. Before his tenure at Washington Mutual, he was chief financial officer and deputy to the chairman for finance at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Lawler is currently controller for U.S. Marketing and Sales at Ford. Prior to this present assignment he has held a variety of leadership positions in finance with the company, including international assignments with Mazda in Japan and with Ford Europe.

Longbrake and Lawler are members of Knox's Business Advisory Council, which advises the college's business and management program. The program at Knox offers a minor in business and management and helps students prepare for careers in business, financial institutions, and nonprofits. Knox ranks among the top 20 percent of U.S. colleges in the number of alumni who are corporate executives.

Knox College is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,400 students from 47 states and 48 countries.