Outstanding directors awards: leading with wisdom, knowledge and rich experience.

• Position: Outstanding Directors

It is impossible to quantify the value a director brings to a board and the organization it serves. Most board directors hold a uniquely wide perspective, having gleaned hard-won wisdom from decades of experience within their own industry and, typically, multiple other industries and nonprofit endeavors. This is the case with this year's Outstanding Directors, who have founded or led large organizations, as well as given their passion and resources to nonprofit efforts.

Our Outstanding Directors go beyond fiduciary oversight, helping companies and nonprofits engage in long-term, strategic planning, as well as setting high ethical standards that permeate their organizations.

Please join us in honoring these impressive directors whose mentorship, knowledge and wise governance have bolstered the companies they serve.

Outstanding Directors

VIVIAN S. LEE, M.D., PH.D.f M.B.A.

Senior Vice President, University Health Sciences CEO, University of Utah Health Care Dean, School of Medicine Director, Zions Bancorporation Board of Directors

Dr. Vivian Lee is responsible for "all things that are medical or health related" at the University of Utah, including the hospital and clinics, medical school, the colleges of nursing and pharmacy, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Someone so steeped in the world of healthcare may seem like an odd choice to serve on the board of a bank--but Lee is actually a perfect fit, says Harris H. Simmons, chairman and CEO of Zions Bancorporation.

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For one thing, Lee is used to operating in a highly regulated industry, says Simmons, and, like banking, healthcare is also an industry in the midst of extraordinary change and flux.

"Dr. Lee brings a very customer-centric perspective to our board," he says. "So often we can get caught up in accounting issues and regulatory perspectives ... she's always reminding us that it's all about the customer at the end of the day."

Lee agrees that the two industries have strong similarities. They both have high barriers to entry, cater to a rapidly changing demographic and are undergoing dramatic changes in the way people engage in business. As an example, she points to disruptive technologies that enable people to take out a loan online in a matter of seconds. The rise of this new, unregulated approach to banking is something Lee compares to "disruptive innovations in healthcare and how they might impact the way in which we can guarantee high-quality care. In the same way, the banking industry really needs to ensure that the right degree of oversight is provided."

Lee currently serves on the audit committee for Zions Bancorporation. She also serves on the board of the publicly traded Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and on nonprofit boards like Roland Hall and the Association of American Rhodes Scholars.

Her board service enriches her experience at the university, where she interacts with boards from the perspective of an executive. "The role of boards is to really work closely with management-not to get...