Values of family business in fourth generation of leadership to be discussed

Susan Marvin will give a talk as part of the Mark Kennedy Frontiers of Freedom Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7 in the Founders Room (room 170), Quadrangle Building, Saint John’s University.

“All in the Family: Values and Purpose in Business” is the title of Marvin’s speech. It is free and open to the public. 

Marvin serves as chairwoman of the Board of Directors of The Marvin Companies. She has been part of the third generation management team, and is one of 14 third and fourth generation Marvin family members operating the company today.

Prior to her current role, Marvin was president of Marvin Windows and Doors and oversaw the fenestration business. She joined the firm in 1981 as marketing manager, was vice president of sales and marketing in 1985 and was appointed president in 1995, and served in that position until 2015.

Marvin Windows and Doors is a manufacturer of made-to-order wood and clad wood windows and doors based out of Warroad, Minnesota.

Now in its fourth generation of Marvin leadership (only 3 percent of U.S. family-owned businesses survive four generations of family control) the company employs over 5,500 and maintains 12 factories nationwide.

She is active in both profit and nonprofit boards, including The Marvin Companies Board of Directors, M.A. Mortenson Company Board of Directors, the National Association of Manufacturers Board of Directors and the University of Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees.

 Marvin graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism in 1979.

Kennedy is a 1979 graduate of SJU who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-07. He became the 12th president of the University of North Dakota on July 1, 2016.

Author of Shapeholders: Business Success in the Age of Activism, Kennedy introduced the concept of shapeholders to business strategy. He previously led George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, the world's first and foremost school of applied politics. 

The goal for the Frontiers of Freedom lecture series is to add intellectual diversity to the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement.