A New Yorker was nominated today to sit on the board of directors of Hormel Foods Corp.

Thursday, December 28, 2000

A New Yorker was nominated today to sit on the board of directors of Hormel Foods Corp.

Dakota A. Pippins, director of the Urban Think Tank unit of Leo Burnett, USA, will be voted on at Hormel’s annual meeting of shareholders on Jan. 30. The re-election of current board members also will occur at the meeting.

Pippins was nominated to fill a vacancy created by the Oct. 28 retirement of Geraldine M. Joseph.

Pippins, 52, has served as director of the Urban Think Tank since August 1998. His role involves strategic planning, research and business development.

"Our board’s nominating committee was particularly pleased to bring a nominee with Mr. Pippins’ qualifications to our shareholders," Joel W. Johnson, Hormel board chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared news release. "His career covers responsibilities with clients and advertising agencies. At an earlier point in his career, he served for five years as the director of the Management Institute at New York University."

Pippins developed NYU’s first course in integrated marketing communications; he serves as an adjunct professor at the university. He also served five years as director of the Management Institute and as director of the Center of Direct Marketing at NYU.

Other roles Pippins has held during his career include:

– Senior vice president of the Chisholm-Mingo Group.

– Co-founder and chief executive officer of the Sustainable Community Development Network, an organization dedicated to building sustainable communities in the United States and Africa.

– Vice president and management supervisor for Burrell Communications Group.

– Senior vice president of planning and development for a division of Citicorp.

– A decade in marketing with General Foods Corp. in White Plains, N.Y.

Pippins holds a bachelor of science degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana and a master of business administration degree in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.