Dame Marjorie Scardino: Woman Power

Dame Marjorie Scardino is a British executive who served Pearson Plc. as CEO while simultaneously serving as trustee at Oxfam. The magazine Private Eye criticized Scardino for spearheading tax avoidance in Luxembourg companies while Oxfam advocates against tax avoidance. With her appointment at Pearson, Scardino became the first woman executive to be named as CEO of a FTSE 100 company. Pearson tripled its profits when Scardino was at its helm. Pearson reported profits of £942 million at that time.

Scardino was born on January 25, 1947 in Flagstaff, Arizona. She spent her adolescence in Texarkana, Texas. She earned her degree in BA in French and psychology at Baylor. She attended the George Washington University law school but quit when she started with journalism. Later, Scardino finished her law degree at University of San Francisco School of Law.

Aside from Pearson Plc, Scardino brought her sharp business acumen to other companies where he served as director or non-executive director, such as MacArthur Foundation, Carter Center, Nokia, and Twitter. She is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal. In 2007, Scardino was listed at the 17th place in the Forbes 100 most powerful women in the world.