Ask the Experts: Executive Pay Q&A with the Independent Consultants

Charlie Tharp is Senior Advisor, Research and Practice of the Center on Executive Compensation. In that role, Tharp is responsible for setting overall policy positions and research initiatives undertaken by the Center and representing the Center in public forums. He is also a Visiting Professor and CES Fellow at the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina and previously held faculty appointments at Boston University, Cornell University and Rutgers University. Tharp has over 25 years of corporate experience, including key human resource positions with General Electric, PepsiCo, Pillsbury, CIGNA and Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. Tharp also served as the interim Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Saks, Incorporated. Earlier in his career he served as an executive compensation consultant for the global consulting firm of Towers Perrin.

Tharp holds a Ph.D. in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University, an LLM in Human Rights and Social Justice from the University of Connecticut School of Law, a J.D. from the Quinnipiac School of Law, a Masters in Economics from Wayne State University and a BA from Hope College where he was Phi Beta Kappa and a Baker Scholar. In 1998 Tharp was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and in 2010 was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy, the highest honor in the HR profession. He previously served as President of the Academy.

Robin Ferracone is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Farient Advisors. Farient helps clients make performance-enhancing and defensible executive compensation decisions that are in the best interests of their shareholders.

From March 2005 to March 2007, Robin was President of the Human Capital business of Mercer. Prior to that, Robin was Chairman of the U.S. West Region for Marsh & McLennan (Mercer’s parent company), market leader and Worldwide Partner at Mercer; and President and Chairman of SCA Consulting, a firm she co-founded in 1985 and sold to Mercer in 2001.

With over 30 years of consulting experience, Robin advises clients in the areas of business and talent strategies, executive compensation, organization, value management, and performance measurement. Her work focuses on providing high-impact decision-making support and organizational solutions based on strategic and market insights.

She is the author of the book entitled, Fair Pay Fair Play: Aligning Executive Performance and Pay. In addition, Robin has authored numerous articles and often is quoted in national publications. She is a frequent speaker for prominent organizations, such as the Council of Institutional Investors and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Additionally, she testified before a Congressional sub-committee in Washington, D.C. regarding the salary of the President of the United States.

Robin is currently on the Board of Directors of The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG) where she serves as chair of the Compensation Committee. She also serves on the Board of WildAid, a global non-profit dedicated to protecting endangered species and reducing climate impacts. Robin is a trustee emeritus of Duke University. In addition, Robin is a member of 50/50 Women on Boards, the National Association of Corporate Directors, Women Corporate Directors, YPO, and the Trusteeship. She formerly served on the Board of Trupanion, Inc., where she chaired the Compensation Committee. Of special significance, Robin has been named to the NACD Directorship 100, a list of the most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom, an unprecedented 15 times. And, in 2014, she was selected as one of EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women, a competition that annually recognizes female entrepreneurs.

Robin received an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and a BA summa cum laude in Management Science and Economics from Duke University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Ira T. Kay, a Managing Partner and founder at Pay Governance, is one of the nation’s foremost experts on executive compensation, with specialized expertise in technology, industrial, health care / pharma, and financial services companies.

Ira works closely with boards and management to help them develop executive compensation programs that balance executive motivation and shareholder interests.

He has assisted many companies to devise employee equity incentives to motivate, drive superior performance, and retain key employees. He has met with shareholders, ISS, and the SEC to influence their executive compensation policies.

His published (Harvard Law School Forum on Governance) empirical research on the strong pay versus performance alignment is unique and persuasive. Ira’s research has been used by clients, academics, and the media. Ira writes and speaks regularly on executive compensation issues.

Ira holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University.

Dan is the Managing Director and Chairman Emeritus of FW Cook. He is also lead consultant on many of the firm’s most important clients. Dan joined the firm in 1997 and has more than 38 years of consulting experience. He has extensive experience working with Board Compensation Committees; Dan’s clients include large multinationals in a variety of industries, as well as smaller start-up organizations. Dan has been a guest lecturer in the graduate programs at the Harvard Business School, New York University’s Stern School of Business, the Columbia School of Business, the Rutgers Business School, and the Fordham Law School and is a frequent presenter at various executive compensation conferences. Dan was also a past faculty member at the Conference Board Directors’ Institute and World-at-Work. Dan has an M.B.A in Finance and Management from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a B.S. in Environmental Business Economics from Rutgers University. He is a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) and a Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP). Dan is also a board member of multiple non-profit organizations focused on environmental conservation and education.