Does a Board of Directors have to have a chair? What is the relationship between the Board Chair and the President of the organization?

[Guest Martha]

Does a Board of Directors have to have a chair? What is the relationship between the Board Chair and the President of the organization?

[Edgar Guest]

The two "essential officers" for any deliberative assembly (e.g. a board or the general membership) are a presiding officer (e.g. a chair or a president) and a secretary.

 

The Chair(man/woman/person) of the Board may or may not be the same person as the President of the Organization.

 

You might find this recent topic instructive (or, at least, humorous).

[Rev Ed]

In other words, the organization is free to have a President who chairs meetings, or a Chairman (whose function is only to chair meetings) and a President who is the administrative head of the organization.  Or whatever the organization wants to do.

[Gary c Tesser]

In other words, the organization is free to have a President who chairs meetings, or a Chairman (whose function is only to chair meetings) and a President who is the administrative head of the organization.  Or whatever the organization wants to do.

 

Mindful of the lightly-written usage book whose title was "-Why do we Park in a Driveway and Drive on a Parkway,-" I'm thinking we should point out that a chair presides, and a president chairs, a commodore commodes (commodiously) ... hmm, and something else about a Moderator....