Cornell Boggs ’82, ’85 J.D.

Cornell Boggs ’82, ’85 J.D., is chairman of the Board of Directors for Thrivent Financial, a Fortune 500 financial services company based in Minneapolis. In January 2025, he began his third term as chairman. Cornell additionally serves as of counsel and senior strategic advisor for Quarles & Brady, a national law firm, where he advises the firm’s leadership and lawyers based on insights gained through a 30-year in-house legal career.

Cornell formerly served as a senior advisor for BarkerGilmore, where he advised general counsel and chief compliance officers through the firm’s GC and CCO Advantage Program, and as Toys “R” Us executive vice president and general counsel, where he led the company’s legal and government affairs functions. Cornell further served as Dow Corning Corporation’s senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, a role he held from 2012-2016, when the 73-year-old Joint Venture was merged into the Dow Chemical Company. In this role, Cornell was responsible for leading the company’s global legal, corporate security, and government relations functions. Prior to joining Dow Corning, Cornell served as chief responsibility and ethics officer for MillerCoors. Cornell served as chief legal officer and group vice president, public affairs, for Coors Brewing Company; and vice president and general counsel for Tyco Plastics and Adhesives, and operating division of Tyco International. Earlier in his career, he worked in the corporate legal departments of Monsanto Company, Anheuser-Busch Companies, and Intel.

He began his career as a judicial clerk for the Court of Appeals of Indiana, followed by appointment in the Attorney General’s Honor Program, where he served as a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Torts Branch.

Cornell is a graduate of Valparaiso University and Valparaiso University School of Law. For 18 years, he served on the Board of Directors of Valparaiso University, where he was chairman of the Campus Life Committee, a member of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee. Past board memberships include the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, as well as the ABA Standards Review Committee for law school accreditation. He is a member of the Indiana, Missouri, and Michigan State Bar Associations. Cornell has been recognized by Savoy Magazine for excellence on numerous occasions. In 2014, he was recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America. In 2015, as one of the Most Influential Black Lawyers, and in 2016, 2021, and 2024, as one of the Most Influential Corporate Directors in America. Cornell was further recognized in 2017 at the Library of Congress in conjunction with the American Bar Association as a recipient of the Burton Awards as a 2017 Legend in the Law.