Press Releases

Irene Y. Hirano and J. Clifford Hudson Join Ford Foundation Board of Trustees

New York, NY — December 21, 2005 — Kathryn S. Fuller, chair of the Ford Foundation's Board of Trustees, announced today the election to the Board of Irene Y. Hirano and J. Clifford Hudson. Ms. Hirano is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and Mr. Hudson is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Corp. in Oklahoma City. Both will join the Board at its January 2006 meeting.

Irene Y. Hirano has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese American National Museum since 1988. She also serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, an affiliate of the museum established in 2000. A recipient of bachelor's and master's degrees in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, Hirano has more than thirty years of experience in nonprofit administration, community education and public affairs with culturally diverse communities nationwide.

Hirano currently serves as Chair and Board member of the Kresge Foundation, Vice-Chair of the American Association of Museums, National Board member of the Smithsonian Institution, immediate past chair and Board member of L.A. Inc./Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, member of the Toyota Corporation's Diversity Advisory Board, and member of the Business Advisory Board of Sodexho Corporation.

J. Clifford Hudson was named Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Corp., the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in America, in April 1995 and became chairman of the board in January 2000. Previously he served the company in a variety of capacities, including general counsel, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Hudson served as chairman of the board of directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a presidential appointment, from 1994-2001. He now serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma City School Board, a position created in 2000.

He graduated from the University of Oklahoma, where in 1988 he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2001, he received the University's Regents Award from its Board of Regents. Hudson also graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he currently serves as a member of the board of visitors. In 2005 he received the Paul R. Dean Award in recognition for service to the Law Center.

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The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.