Robert Augustus Gardner Monks (born December 4, 1933) is an American

shareholder activist An activist shareholder is a shareholder who uses an equity stake in a corporation to put pressure on its management. A fairly small stake (less than 10% of outstanding shares) may be enough to launch a successful campaign. In comparison, a full ta ...

and co-founder of Institutional Shareholder Services, Lens Investment Management, Lens Governance Advisors and The Corporate Library (now part of GMI Ratings). He is the author of ''Corpocracy'' and ''The New Global Investors'' and, with

Nell Minow Nell Minow is an American film reviewer and writer who writes and speaks frequently on film, media, and corporate governance and investing. Ms. Minow was named one of the 20 most influential people in corporate governance by Directorship magazine ...

, ''Watching the Watchers'', ''Corporate Governance'' and ''Power & Accountability''. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from Maine in 1976, losing in a landslide to Democratic Senator

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 6 ...

. He again ran for Senate in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, but lost that Republican primary to

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...

. He also unsuccessfully challenged longtime Republican Senator

Margaret Chase Smith Margaret Madeline Smith (née Chase; December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. representative (1940–1949) and a U.S. senator (1949–1973) from Maine. She was the firs ...

in the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Republican primary.

Biography

Monks was born on December 4, 1933. He was the son of Rev. G. Gardner Monks and Katharine Knowles. Rev. Monks was the founding headmaster of

Lenox School for Boys Lenox School was a private preparatory school for boys in grades nine through twelve in Lenox, Massachusetts. The school was affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States). School history The school opened in 1926 under the leadership of R ...

and Canon of the

Washington Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church. The cathedral is loc ...

. A cousin of Monks' grandmother- from whom came his second name- was the politician

Augustus Peabody Gardner Augustus Peabody Gardner (November 5, 1865 – January 14, 1918) was an American military officer and Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. He represented the North Shore region in the Massachusetts Senate and United States House of Re ...

. Monks was educated at St. Paul's School,

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. At Cambridge, he was a member of the winning

Cambridge University Boat Club The Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England. The club was founded in 1828 and has been located at the Goldie Boathouse on the River Cam, Cambridge since 1882. Nowadays, training primarily ...

boat in the 1955 edition of

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

, a traditional competition between Cambridge and Oxford Universities.Time - Sport: Scoreboard, Apr. 4, 1955
/ref> Monks married Millicent Carnegie Sprague in July 1954.

Career

After graduating from law school, Monks became a partner in a law firm in Boston. He was vice president of Gardner Associates and then was president and CEO of C.H. Sprague & Son, a coal and oil Company. Then he was a board member and later chairman of the Board of The Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company and the Boston Company.

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

appointed him as director of the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation and as one of the founding Trustees of the Federal Employees' Retirement System. He worked for the US Department of Labor as Administrator of the Office of Pension and Welfare Benefit Programs which gave him jurisdiction over the whole U.S. pension system. Monks has written widely about corporate governance and has published more than a hundred papers in publications around the world. He was the recipient of the Award for Outstanding Financial Executive from the

Financial Management Association Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

in 2007. Monks is the subject of a biography chronicling the corporate governance movement, ''A Traitor to His Class'' by Hilary Rosenberg.

The
corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
is an externalizing machine, in the same way that a
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
is a killing machine. , Robert Monks (2003)
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate for
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and corporate governance adviser in the film The Corporation.

In the above documentary film, Monks was interviewed and featured to address issues of corporations including how their profit models historically involve being "lean, mean, externalizing machines."

Bibliography

*''Power & Accountability.'' HarperCollins, 1991. (with Nell Minow) *''Watching the Watchers.'' Capstone, 1996. (with Nell Minow) *''The Emperor's Nightingale.'' Saint Simons Island, Georgia: Brook Street, 1999. *''The New Global Investors.'' Capstone, 2001. *''Capitalism Without Owners Will Fail: A Policymaker's Guide to Reform.'' London: CSFI, 2002. (with Allen Sykes) *''Reel and Rout.'' Saint Simons Island, Georgia: Brook Street, 2004. *''Corpocracy.'' New York; Wiley, 2007. *''Corporate Valuation for Portfolio Investment.'' London: Wiley, 2010. (with Alexandra Lajoux) *''Corporate Governance (5th Revised Edition).'' London: Wiley, 2011. (with Nell Minow) *''Citizens DisUnited: Passive Investors, Drone CEOs, and the Corporate Capture of the American Dream.'' 2013.

References

*Hart, Joanne. "Bob Monks: Ungoverned companies are like doped horses." (''Reach'' April 2005) *Geraciot, David A. "Bob Monks' Thirty-year Crusade." (''Registered Rep.'' February 2003)

External links

Robert Monks' blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monks, Robert A. G. 1933 births American activists American male rowers Cambridge University Boat Club rowers Harvard Law School alumni Living people Maine Republicans Alumni of the University of Cambridge St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Harvard College alumni

Biography

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links