Sherwood Lee Wallace

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer


Woody Wallace is recognized in the investor relations profession as a leading practitioner and author. He began in the business in its infancy and has had an important role in IR's development through the years, introducing some of its most integral concepts. In 1982, he formed The Investor Relations Company.

Previously, Woody was a senior partner in the nation's (and world's) largest agency specializing in financial public relations. Among posts he held during his 14 years there were account division manager of the firm's largest division and member of the executive and policy committees, as well as being one of its three largest stockholders. As a member of top management, he helped set and oversee policies that shaped that company's success. He managed all that firm's international business from 1974 to 1982 and continues to work internationally as the occasion arises.

Woody has been a long-time member of the National Investor Relations Institute, was a charter member of NIRI's Senior Roundtable limited to IR's top practitioners, and over the years has been a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the PRSA Counselors' Section, and the executive committee of the Financial Communications Section of PRSA. He has been listed in Who's Who in the Midwest and Who's Who in America. He co-authored what was then called the best book ever written on investor relations, "Competing in the New Capital Markets: Investor Relations Strategies for the 1990s," published by the Harper Business division of HarperCollins, one of the world's largest publishers, 1991. In 1998, John Wiley, & Sons Inc., also a major publisher, introduced the second book he co-authored, "New Dimensions in Investor Relations: Competing for Capital in the 21st Century," available via order at most major chains, Amazon, through NIRI or from IRC. It achieved the number one spot on NIRI's list of top selling IR books shortly after debuting and has been one of the best sellers in the business. He has had published in the annual IR issue of the Public Relations Journal of PRSA an article titled, "Plumbing the Investor Market," a unique explanation of the financial community for IROs and corporate executives. He is frequently quoted in industry articles.

In the 90s, Woody chaired a PRSA seminar "Today's Marketing Will Change IR," with Ann L. McGill, PhD., then associate professor, marketing, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Woody also spoke at the conference "Investor Relations & Financial P.R. for Financial Executives". He also appeared on the panel Your Personal Legal Responsibilities in Financial Communications at the Annual Report Conference and Investor Relations Forum in New York and at a Community Bankers Association New York Conference on the panel, "A Day in the Life of a Community Banker". He also moderated a panel on IR for the Community Bankers Association.

Woody has won literally dozens of awards for his annual report and investor relations programming, particularly in his specialties of banking and energy, including a 1986 Financial World Best of Industry annual report award for Wisconsin's largest savings bank at the time.

He has guest lectured at the University of Iowa, the University of California at Irvine and DePaul University as well as to several NIRI chapters. He received his BA degree in Journalism with a major in public relations from the University of Iowa in 1962.