February 25, 2005 La‘ie, HI- Widely-respected business executive and educator Mark Willes has been appointed as the new chairman of the Board of Directors of the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). He succeeds former chairman, Ted Jacobsen, who leaves the PCC after serving as its chairman for nearly nine years and as a director since 1993. Jacobsen has been called by the LDS Church as president of the England Manchester Mission. Willes has served on the Board since 1996 and brings broad, successful experience in business, finance, and education to the PCC.

“We are grateful for Ted Jacobsen’s leadership and his devoted service to the Polynesian Cultural Center. His contributions have been crucial to our success during the challenging and the good times,” said PCC President Von D. Orgill. “We are looking forward to the additional progress we will see under the strong leadership of Mark Willes. These two great men, like all members of the PCC Board of Directors, serve on a volunteer basis, without compensation. In fact, each has shared generously of his time and means to further the important mission of the Center. What a unique combination of competence, wisdom, and heart they share with us!”

Willes, 63, has had a distinguished career in the institutional, public and private sectors. After graduating with a Ph.D. from the Columbia Graduate School of Business, Willes began his career as an assistant professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. In 1969, he joined the Federal Reserve System and served as first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 1971, then became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 1977 - the youngest such president in history.
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Having excelled in both academia and government, Willes moved to the private sector in 1980, when he became executive vice president and chief financial officer for General Mills, Inc. He became its president and chief operating officer in 1985 and vice chairman in 1992.

Soon after, Willes joined Times Mirror Corporation, one of America’s largest publishers of major newspapers and magazines, such as the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun. As its chairman, president and chief executive officer from 1995 to 2000, he dramatically improved the company’s financial performance and influence.

Willes has since served as a visiting distinguished professor of management at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Business and as a director of Black & Decker Corporation. From 2001 to 2004, he served as president of the Hawai‘i Honolulu Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Founded in 1963 as a non-profit organization, the PCC has entertained more than 31 million visitors while preserving and portraying the culture, arts, and crafts of Polynesia to the rest of the world. In addition, the PCC has provided financial assistance to 14,000 young people from more than 70 different countries while they have attended Brigham Young University-Hawai‘i. As a non-profit organization, all funds generated by the PCC are used for its daily operations and to support its cultural and educational missions.
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