Georgetown alumni have played key roles in the recent corporate reshuffling at Disney.

Former Senator George Mitchell (LAW ’61) was elected as Disney’s chairman two weeks ago as a result of the shareholders meeting in Philadelphia. Mitchell, who spoke last week at a Georgetown Law Center event, said that he will review Disney’s succession plans covering all “high executive positions,” including that of Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner.

“We believe the decisions that we’ve made will be validated by future performance,” Mitchell said. “We will watch closely and act accordingly, guided always as all directors must, by our determination to maximize value for all our shareholders.”

Mitchell also carefully discussed governance within Disney. itchell said that governance has been a “major focus” within the company for several years, and that Disney has begun a series of initiatives that have improved governance practices. “Today I believe our policies and practices are sound and structured in a way that will allow the management to deliver value to our shareholders in the long term,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell described in his speech the steps he has taken as chairman in addressing shareholder complaints. “At Disney, we heard the concerns of our shareholders,” Mitchell said. “As a result, the board and its processes have been completely transformed.”

In dealing with shareholders, one of the most influential of Disney’s investors, CalPERS – the California Public Employees’ Retirement System – voiced strong opposition against the reelection of three members of the audit committee, including former Georgetown president Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., who has served on the Disney board since 1996.

Despite this opposition from CalPERS, Mitchell confirmed that the board was intact. Mitchell said that he plans to add an additional outside director to the board, which would change the composition of the board to be three-quarters independent of management under the company’s recently created more rigid policies.

Mitchell is a former Democratic senator from Maine and was elected to be Disney’s chairman after shareholders and Roy Disney, nephew of Walt, worked to separate the positions of chairman and chief executive officer within the company, both of which Eisner held in the past.