Pfizer Inc. selected for Board Excellence Award.

• Position: Spencer Stuart Governance Letter

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Spencer Stuart jointly selected the board of directors at Pfizer Inc to receive the sixth annual Wharton/Spencer Stuart "Board Excellence" Award.

Pfizer is being recognized for its outstanding performance and commitment to leadership, shareholder value, and corporate governance. Pfizer was selected from among eight finalists by a panel of business leaders. Nominations were solicited from boards, shareholders, and management for any North American publicly traded company.

The Pfizer board has a record of strong leadership and dedication to shareholder value. In 2000, the board played an important role in the company's merger with Warner-Lambert, resulting in the creation of the largest, fastest-growing major pharmaceutical company in the world (it markets seven of the 25 largest-selling medicines). Under the direction of the post-merger board, the company completed the complex task of integrating two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies into one streamlined corporation.

Also cited was the board's adopting and publishing in the 2000 proxy statement an audit committee charter before it was required by the SEC and New York Stock Exchange.

The judges noted the expansive nature of the Pfizer board's audit committee process. An extensive orientation program was developed this year for the new chair of the audit committee. The program entailed over 25 hours of presentations and discussions covering a large range of topics, including internal and external audit processes, legal concerns, accounting reports, operations planning and analysis, tax planning and auditing, financial risk management, information technology, and SEC and NYSE...