CLAREMONT, California, November 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Centennial Committee Chairs include A.G. Lafley, Jim Collins, David Gergen, Wendy Kopp, Masatoshi Ito, Warren Bennis, Rajiv Dutta, Charles Handy and Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Today The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management (http://www.cgu.edu/pages/130.asp) at Claremont Graduate University (http://www.cgu.edu/pages/1.asp), along with The Drucker Institute (http://www.druckerinstitute.com), announced a commemoration and celebration of the life of the late Peter F. Drucker. The Drucker Centennial (http://www.drucker100.com) will be crowned by a week of special events at Claremont Graduate University in November 2009 and supplemented by other activities from Fall 2008-2010.

The Centennial will mark the 100th birthday of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management; author of 39 books on organizational behavior, innovation, economy, and society; and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The timing couldn't be more urgent, said Ira A. Jackson, Dean of the Drucker School. With financial markets in crisis and political institutions around the globe in turmoil, Drucker's insights on effective management, ethical leadership, and social responsibility have never been more essential. This Centennial celebration will be a bridge between Drucker's timeless ideas and current transformative world events. Clearly, we need Drucker now more than ever.

To underscore the importance of the event, the Chairs for the Drucker Centennial include a Who's Who of leaders, thinkers and management luminaries:

-- John Bachmann, Senior Partner at Edward Jones, Chairman, the Drucker School Board of Visitors -- Warren Bennis, University of Southern California -- Bob Buford, Author, Social Entrepreneur and Chairman of the Drucker Institute -- John Byrne, Executive Editor, Business Week -- Jim Collins, Author of Good to Great and Built to Last -- Doris Drucker, Author and Inventor -- Rajiv Dutta, Former President of eBay Marketplaces -- David Gergen, Harvard University, CNN Commentator and Former White House Advisor -- Charles Handy, Co-Founder of the London Business School -- Frances Hesselbein, Chairman, Leader to Leader Institute -- Masatoshi Ito, Founder and Honorary Chairman, the Ito-Yokado Group -- Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard University -- Alan Khazei, CEO, Be The Change Inc. -- Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO, Teach for America -- A.G. Lafley, Chairman and CEO, Procter Gamble Co.

Among the activities planned are a summit with corporate leaders; a Lecture Series; and a new text, The Drucker Difference.

Starting on November 10th, you can visit http://www.drucker100.com for more information.

Max Benavidez of The Drucker School, +1-626-799-1996, maxbenavidez@earthlink.net