Lisa W. Wardell has been a director of Adtalem since November 2008.
She is a business executive with more than 25 years of experience managing business strategy, operations, finance, and mergers and acquisitions, while driving shareholder value, stakeholder engagement, and company mission. After a successful three-year run as Adtalem’s president and CEO (2016-2019) she transitioned to CEO and Chairman (2019-2021) and Executive Chairman (2021-2022). Through her commitment to high performance and positive social impact, Ms. Wardell’s leadership has resulted in superior outcomes for Adtalem’s students and significant value creation for shareholders and positioned the company for long-term growth. Ms. Wardell has also led the higher education sector in implementing new standards in transparency and financial literacy, and in cultivating quality partnerships to fill critical global healthcare workforce needs.
Prior to Adtalem, Ms. Wardell was executive vice president and chief operating officer for The RLJ Companies. During her tenure at RLJ, Ms. Wardell managed acquisitions and executed the formation of RML Automotive, a dealership network spanning seven states with over $1.5 billion in annual revenues. She also worked extensively in the media, entertainment, sports, gaming, and hotel industries, which included assisting with the founding and managing of Our Stories Films Studio and managing the now Charlotte Hornets (previously Charlotte Bobcats). Ms. Wardell also served on the board of the NBAPA, Inc., the for-profit portion of the NBA Players Association, from 2018 to 2021. Prior to joining The RLJ Companies, Ms. Wardell was a principal at Katalyst Venture Partners, a private equity firm that invested in start-up technology companies, and a senior consultant at Accenture in the organization’s communication and technology practice.
Ms. Wardell has been featured on CNBC and Cheddar as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, and other publications.
Board Service
Ms. Wardell has served on the board of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) since 2021, where she is a member of the audit and compliance and risk committees. She served on the board of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) from March 2018 to March 2021 and GIII Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII) from March 2022 to June 2023. She is a member of The Business Council, and Co-Chair of the Alvin Ailey DC Foundation., Ms. Wardell also is a member of the board of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executive Leadership Council, and the Fortune CEO Initiative.
