Spotlight on women directors.

• Position: Welcome to the Board

Almost half of the leading U.S. companies still do not have a woman serving as a corporate director, according to a recent census of the Fortune Industrial 500 and Service 500 companies. The board survey was done by Catalyst, the not-for-profit New York-based research organization that works with business to effect change for women. The exhibit on the facing page highlights additional findings of the Catalyst survey. Below, we spotlight a selection of women executives who were recently elected corporate directors.

The Home Depot, America's largest home center retailer, elected M. Faye Wilson to its board. Wilson is executive vice president of Security Pacific Corp. She joined the bank in 1977. Her professional relationship with Home Depot began in 1982, while she headed the corporate lending unit at Security Pacific National Bank. She worked with Home Depot's CFO, Ron Brill, to secure early financing. "During those early days, you had to believe very solidly in Home Depot's business plans, talents, and the integrity of the people," she says. "They work smart and possess a quality of honesty that makes bankers sleep better at night." Atlanta-based Home Depot currently operates 177 full-service warehouse-sized home center stores in 15 states.

Paula Stern, president of an economic analysis and trade advisory group and former chairwoman of the International Trade Commission, was elected to the board of Westinghouse Electric Corp. Dr. Stern is president of The Stern Group, Washington, D.C., which advises private businesses and government on trade issues that affect their competitiveness in the international economy. She is also a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Study. During her years with the ITC, as a commissioner of the 500-person agency beginning in 1974 and as chairwoman from 1984 to 1986, she analyzed and voted on more than 1,000 trade cases involving a broad range of industries and problems. She is also a member of the board of Scott Paper Co. and Dynatech Corp. Says Westinghouse Chairman Pual Lego, "Dr. Stern brings an exceptionally broad range of experience, particularly in international business and global competitivenss."

Spec's Music Inc., the largest specialty retailer in Florida of prerecorded music and video products, named Cynthia Cohen Turk as a director. Turk is founder and president of Marketplace 2000, a consulting firm serving consumer industries. Her...