Patricia C. Dunn
Encyclopedia
Patricia Cecile Dunn aka Patricia Cecile Dunn-Jahnke, is the former non-executive
chairman of the board of Hewlett-Packard
(HP), a position she held from February 2005 until September 22, 2006, when she resigned her position. On October 4, 2006 Bill Lockyer, the California attorney general, charged Dunn with four felonies for her role in the HP spying scandal
. Some members of the press reported that Dunn had been scapegoated. On March 14, 2007, California Superior Court judge Ray Cunningham dropped criminal charges against her in the "interest of justice."
, Dunn grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, where both of her parents were involved in the casino industry. Her father was the entertainment manager for the Dunes and Tropicana hotel-casinos, and her mother was a model and showgirl. When Dunn was only eleven, her father died. Her mother subsequently moved the family to California.
Dunn entered the University of Oregon in 1970, but later had to drop out to support her mother by working as a housecleaner. She resumed college and graduated from UC Berkeley, where she graduated in 1975 with a BA in Journalism.
Dunn later joined the HP Board of Directors. Dunn received the Financial Women's Association of San Francisco "Financial Woman of the Year" award in 2001. She eventually succeeded Carly Fiorina
as chairman of the board. Dunn was non-executive Vice Chairman of Barclays Global Investors since 2002, resigning on October 6, 2006, the day after her criminal indictment (see below). Additionally, she is Director and Executive Committee member of Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, on the board of the Conference Board's Global Corporate Governance Research Center, and an advisory board member of UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
.
On September 12, 2006, HP announced that Mark Hurd, a former CEO, would replace her as Chairman after the HP board meeting on January 18, 2007, but that Dunn would continue as an HP board member after January 18, 2007, a position she has held since 1998. Even so, on September 22, 2006, in a press conference, Dunn resigned, effective immediately, from both her position as chairman and from the board of directors of HP. In an official statement, Dunn noted "I accepted the responsibility to identify the sources of those leaks, but I did not propose the specific methods of the investigation...Unfortunately, the people HP relied upon to conduct this type of investigation let me and the company down. I continue to have the best interests of HP at heart and thus I have accepted the board’s request to resign." Hurd replaced her as Chairman.
On October 4, 2006, Dunn and four others were charged by California attorney general
Bill Lockyer
with four felony
counts: fraud
ulent use of wire, radio or television transmissions; taking, copying, and using computer data without authorization; identity theft
; and conspiracy
. Lockyer had issued arrest warrants for all five of those so charged. Dunn was scheduled to have been arraigned on November 17, 2006. On March 14, 2007, the judge in the case dropped all criminal charges against her in the "interests of justice." The dropping of the criminal charges by Judge Cunningham came after Dunn refused to take a plea of one misdemeanor in exchange for four felonies before the preliminary hearing. Bill Lockyer, the man who had been criticised for bringing the case against Dunn in the first place, defended his bringing of the case in a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal.
HP General Counsel Ann Baskins
resigned on September 28, 2006. Baskins, who advised Dunn about "tightening control over Board members", was not indicted by Lockyer.
and melanoma
, and was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer
in January 2004. Chemotherapy
treatment led to remission until August 2006, when she underwent surgery to remove liver metastases. Dunn was scheduled to start chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer
on October 6, 2006 at the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center.
Dunn is married to William Jahnke, a former head of Wells Fargo Investment Advisors
. The couple owns a winery
in Australia
, a home in Hawaii
and property in Orinda, California
.
Non-executive director
A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...
chairman of the board of Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
(HP), a position she held from February 2005 until September 22, 2006, when she resigned her position. On October 4, 2006 Bill Lockyer, the California attorney general, charged Dunn with four felonies for her role in the HP spying scandal
HP spying scandal
On September 5, 2006, Newsweek revealed that Hewlett-Packard's general counsel, at the behest of HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn, had contracted a team of independent security experts to investigate board members and several journalists in order to identify the source of an information leak...
. Some members of the press reported that Dunn had been scapegoated. On March 14, 2007, California Superior Court judge Ray Cunningham dropped criminal charges against her in the "interest of justice."
Early life and education
Born in Burbank, CaliforniaBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, Dunn grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, where both of her parents were involved in the casino industry. Her father was the entertainment manager for the Dunes and Tropicana hotel-casinos, and her mother was a model and showgirl. When Dunn was only eleven, her father died. Her mother subsequently moved the family to California.
Dunn entered the University of Oregon in 1970, but later had to drop out to support her mother by working as a housecleaner. She resumed college and graduated from UC Berkeley, where she graduated in 1975 with a BA in Journalism.
Career
After college, Dunn began working as a temporary secretary at Wells Fargo & Co., where she eventually became CEO at Barclays Global Investors, the company that acquired the asset management division of Wells Fargo. While at Wells Fargo, she met William Jahnke, a banker whom she later married. She also worked as a freelance journalist.Dunn later joined the HP Board of Directors. Dunn received the Financial Women's Association of San Francisco "Financial Woman of the Year" award in 2001. She eventually succeeded Carly Fiorina
Carly Fiorina
Carly Fiorina is an American business executive and a former Republican candidate for the United States Senate representing California. Fiorina served as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and previously was an executive at AT&T and its equipment and technology spinoff,...
as chairman of the board. Dunn was non-executive Vice Chairman of Barclays Global Investors since 2002, resigning on October 6, 2006, the day after her criminal indictment (see below). Additionally, she is Director and Executive Committee member of Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, on the board of the Conference Board's Global Corporate Governance Research Center, and an advisory board member of UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
Haas School of Business
The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....
.
Controversy
Dunn was at the center of a controversy regarding her effort to investigate board-level leaks to reporters in 2005-2006. HP hired companies that, in the process of investigating the leaks, obtained the personal telephone records of HP board members and reporters who covered HP through a practice called pretexting. It is illegal under California law to use deceit and trickery to obtain private records of individuals.On September 12, 2006, HP announced that Mark Hurd, a former CEO, would replace her as Chairman after the HP board meeting on January 18, 2007, but that Dunn would continue as an HP board member after January 18, 2007, a position she has held since 1998. Even so, on September 22, 2006, in a press conference, Dunn resigned, effective immediately, from both her position as chairman and from the board of directors of HP. In an official statement, Dunn noted "I accepted the responsibility to identify the sources of those leaks, but I did not propose the specific methods of the investigation...Unfortunately, the people HP relied upon to conduct this type of investigation let me and the company down. I continue to have the best interests of HP at heart and thus I have accepted the board’s request to resign." Hurd replaced her as Chairman.
On October 4, 2006, Dunn and four others were charged by California attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Bill Lockyer
Bill Lockyer
William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer is an American politician. He is the current 32nd State Treasurer of California, elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He has also served as California Attorney General and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate...
with four felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
counts: fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
ulent use of wire, radio or television transmissions; taking, copying, and using computer data without authorization; identity theft
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
; and conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
. Lockyer had issued arrest warrants for all five of those so charged. Dunn was scheduled to have been arraigned on November 17, 2006. On March 14, 2007, the judge in the case dropped all criminal charges against her in the "interests of justice." The dropping of the criminal charges by Judge Cunningham came after Dunn refused to take a plea of one misdemeanor in exchange for four felonies before the preliminary hearing. Bill Lockyer, the man who had been criticised for bringing the case against Dunn in the first place, defended his bringing of the case in a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal.
HP General Counsel Ann Baskins
Ann Baskins
Ann O'Neil Baskins is former General Counsel for Hewlett-Packard Company . Baskins was linked to the HP pretexting scandal....
resigned on September 28, 2006. Baskins, who advised Dunn about "tightening control over Board members", was not indicted by Lockyer.
Private life
Dunn has survived breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
, and was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
in January 2004. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
treatment led to remission until August 2006, when she underwent surgery to remove liver metastases. Dunn was scheduled to start chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
on October 6, 2006 at the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center.
Dunn is married to William Jahnke, a former head of Wells Fargo Investment Advisors
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
. The couple owns a winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, a home in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and property in Orinda, California
Orinda, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Orinda had a population of 17,643. The population density was 1,389.5 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Orinda was 14,533 White, 149 African American, 22 Native American, 2,016 Asian, 24 Pacific Islander, 122 from other races, and...
.