LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Brown-Forman Corporation’s (NYSE: BFA) (NYSE: BFB) CEO and Board Chairman were honored with the 2014 Family Enterprise Leadership Award by Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management’s Center for Family Enterprise on May 7 in a ceremony at the university in Evanston, IL.

The Family Enterprise Leadership Award honors exemplary leadership that inspires and guides both family and enterprise. “Leading both requires a keen understanding of how a family’s values and purpose can benefit all the ownership of a business, including how the power of private, controlling ownership gives special advantage to the business and how the business can bring unity and emotional connection to the family,” stated John Ward, co-director of the Center for Family Enterprises at the Kellogg School of Management.

Brown-Forman was selected for the prestigious honor because family member and Brown-Forman Chairman of the Board Geo. Garvin Brown IV and non-family company CEO Paul C. Varga have created a unique partnership over the past seven years. “Their collaborative leadership model has enabled a transition to and broader inclusion of the fifth and sixth generations of the family, while enhancing the company’s governance, global footprint, product mix, profitability, and market capital value,” Ward said. This leadership model “has also provided the infrastructure for continuity and the benefit of long-term thinking. As historic contributors to their communities, the Brown family and company have also improved coordination of and broadened commitments to philanthropy as a result of that infrastructure.”

About the Award:

The Center for Family Enterprise created this annual award to recognize unique contributions of exemplary family enterprise leaders in order to inspire a new generation of leaders in both family and non-family businesses worldwide. The award recipients exemplify the values, vision, familial and organizational effectiveness, and steward capabilities that Kellogg strives to promote throughout its educational initiatives globally.

For more information, contact: Carol Zsolnay at c-zsolnay@kellogg.northwestern.edu or by calling 847-491-5731.

For more than 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Jack Daniel’s & Cola, Canadian Mist, Korbel, Gentleman Jack, el Jimador, Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, New Mix, Tuaca, and Woodford Reserve. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by nearly 4,000 employees and sold in approximately 160 countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com/.

Brown-Forman Corporation
Phil Lynch, 502-774-7928
Vice President
Director Corporate Communications and Public Relations
or
Jay Koval, 502-774-6903
Vice President
Director Investor Relations

Source: Brown-Forman Corporation