1997 – Chicago, Illinois & Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Karla Scherer, Chairman of the Karla Scherer Foundation, was formerly a director and the largest shareholder of the R.P. Scherer Corporation. She led the nation’s only successful proxy contest in 1988 involving a major U.S. publicly held corporation. As a result of her efforts, the company founded by her father in 1933 was sold in June 1989 at a price more than double the value of each shareholder’s investment the year before, when the proxy contest began. Through the proxy contest, Ms. Scherer learned how frequently women are patronized or even ignored in corporate America. To assist women in pursuing business careers she established the Karla Scherer Foundation, which has provided over 111 scholarships for women who want to obtain an undergraduate or graduate degree in economics or finance. Ms. Scherer speaks all around the country on corporate governance and on the problems confronting women in management. Her many awards have included Women of Achievement and Courage Award, Michigan Women’s Foundation, Outstanding Leader of the Year, Oakland University; and Detroit’s Most Influential Women, from Crain’s Detroit Business. Ms. Scherer attended Wellesley and is a graduate of the University of Michigan and expects to receive her M.A. from the University of Chicago in December, 1999. She has shared her expertise by serving on many boards. To name a few: the American Management Association, General Management Council for Growing Organizations and the Economic Club of Detroit. Ms. Scherer resides in Chicago, Illinois and in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, with her husband former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Theodore Souris. She is the mother of three daughters; Christina, Hadley (Mrs. Edward Tolliver) and Allison.
