Ben W. Heineman Jr.

Ben Heineman Jr. has held top positions in government, law, and business. He is the author of High Performance with High Integrity. More

Ben W. Heineman, Jr. was GE's Senior Vice President/General Consultant from 1987-2003, and then Senior Vice President for Law and Public Affairs in 2004 and 2005. He is currently a Senior Fellow at two Harvard schools: the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School's Program on Corporate Governance. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School's Program on the Legal Profession and Senior Counsel to the law firm of Wilmer Hale. A former Rhodes Scholar, editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Mr. Heineman practiced constitutional law prior to his service at GE. His book High Performance with High Integrity was published in June 2008. In 2007, he served on the Independent Review Panel on the World Bank Group's Department of Institutional Integrity and is currently on an international panel advising the President of the World Bank on governance and anti-corruption. He is a recipient of the American Lawyer's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award of Board Member Magazine. Ethisphere Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential individuals on business ethics in 2008.
Why Chemical Weapons Are Different

Why Chemical Weapons Are Different

Blistering skin, eye damage, and excruciating deaths were just some of the reasons nations decided to ban these substances after World War I. More »

Beyond the Coup: Egypt's Real Problem Is Its Economy

Beyond the Coup: Egypt's Real Problem Is Its Economy

Any new permanent government will face the choice Morsi had but never made: market economic reforms on the one hand and a command-and-control statist economy on the other. More »

The Cost of Saving Lives in Bangladesh

The Cost of Saving Lives in Bangladesh

The hard decisions that need to be made to prevent another tragedy like garment factory collapse that killed over 1,000 people. More »

When Roger Ebert Was a Cub Critic

When Roger Ebert Was a Cub Critic

Reflections on knowing the late film critic in the early days of his career More »

Why We Can All Stop Worrying About Offshoring and Outsourcing

Why We Can All Stop Worrying About Offshoring and Outsourcing

The old math no longer applies when it comes to where multinationals choose to open shop. More »

On DOMA, Real-World Arguments Could Sway the Supreme Court

On DOMA, Real-World Arguments Could Sway the Supreme Court

Moderate justices (read: Kennedy) may hesitate to call same-sex marriage a constitutional right. But these briefs written by military and business leaders may give them a more modest way to strike down the Act. More »

How Times, and <i>Time</i>, Changed

How Times, and Time, Changed

In 1966, Time magazine's London office told me I wasn't spending enough money on my expense account. It was another world. More »

How Obama Can Win a European Free-Trade Deal

How Obama Can Win a European Free-Trade Deal

Overcoming the vested interests on both sides of the Atlantic will take canny and political muscle. More »

'Downton Abbey' Is Entertainment, but 'Brideshead Revisited' Was Art

'Downton Abbey' Is Entertainment, but 'Brideshead Revisited' Was Art

The '80's reigning aristo-soap has endured culturally. Today's, while diverting, won't. More »

What Obama Forgot: Economic Growth Is the Only Way to Social Progress

What Obama Forgot: Economic Growth Is the Only Way to Social Progress

In his inaugural speech, the president mentioned the obligations of "We the People" as individual citizens. But what's the role of businesses as corporate citizens? More »

Obama's Chief of Staff Will Be the Most Important Appointment of His Term

Obama's Chief of Staff Will Be the Most Important Appointment of His Term

For many practical purposes, it is the White House operations boss -- and not the vice president -- who serves as the nation's deputy president. More »

Anna Karenina: Read the Book, Skip the Movie

Anna Karenina: Read the Book, Skip the Movie

Tolstoy's epic novel reveled in the humanity of its characters. Alas, that quality was lost in translation to the screen. More »

Egypt's Economic Winter

Egypt's Economic Winter

Morsi's power grab has made headlines, but the world's most populous Arab country has even bigger problems on its hands. More »

High-Risk, High-Reward: Will Obama Seek a Free-Trade Pact With Europe?

High-Risk, High-Reward: Will Obama Seek a Free-Trade Pact With Europe?

The economic benefits could be enormous -- but so could the political challenge. More »

Obama Should Nominate Michael Bloomberg as Treasury Secretary

Obama Should Nominate Michael Bloomberg as Treasury Secretary

He's smart, has critical business experience, and could be a valuable negotiator when it comes to avoiding the fiscal cliff. More »

In Praise of CNN

In Praise of CNN

Talented anchors, judicious use of analysts, and a more-or-less nonpartisan approach made it the channel to watch on election night. More »

Barack Obama, Organization Man

Barack Obama, Organization Man

Romney ran on his business record, but Obama's campaign proved itself more adept at the very skills that make corporations run effectively. More »

The Gallant Idealism of George McGovern

The Gallant Idealism of George McGovern

Memories from the late senator's 1972 presidential campaign. More »

The Political Lie, From Cicero to Joe McCarthy

The Political Lie, From Cicero to Joe McCarthy

As a core campaign tactic, lying is nothing new. More »

Memories Lost: A Son's Regret

Memories Lost: A Son's Regret

We have the technology to easily capture -- through sight and sound -- the parents and grandparents on whose shoulders we all stand. Don't wait too long. More »

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