Shell Canada president launches women’s leadership forum at KU

A 1980 graduate who is ranked by Fortune magazine as one of the top 20 powerful women in business, visited KU Oct. 30 and 31 to inaugurate the new International Leadership Forum series.

Linda Zarda Cook, president and chief executive officer of Shell Canada Limited, presented “Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility” Oct. 30 in Eaton Hall’s Spahr Auditorium.

Cook also spoke at several classes and met with faculty and administrators.

KU’s Center for International Business Education and Research launched the new leadership series, which is co-sponsored by the KU schools of business, engineering and law. The series will build student awareness about the leadership role executives play in international firms and service organizations.

Cook received a degree in petroleum engineering from KU in 1980 and has held positions at Shell in Houston, The Hague and London. Before being named chief executive officer of Shell Canada in 2003, she was CEO of Shell Gas & Power in London, responsible for the global natural gas and power generation activities of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. Cook also is a member of the Harvard School of Government Dean’s Council and will join the Boeing Co. board of directors in December.
A native Kansan, Cook is originally from Shawnee.