James A. Lawrence serves as chairman of Lake Harriet Capital LLC, an investment and advisory firm. Previously, he served as chairman of Rothschild North America from 2012 - 2015 and as chief executive officer of Rothschild North America and as co-head of global investment banking from 2010 - 2012. Prior to joining Rothschild, Mr. Lawrence served as chief financial officer of Unilever and as an executive director on the boards of Unilever NV and Unilever PLC. Mr. Lawrence joined Unilever in 2007 after serving as the vice chairman and chief financial officer of General Mills, where he was responsible for corporate financial international operations.
Mr. Lawrence earned a bachelor of arts in economics from Yale University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. He is currently a director of International Airline Group, the holding company of British Airways and Iberia, and serves on the board of directors of Smurfit Kappa, a leading provider of paper-based packaging solutions, as well as AerCap Holdings.
He previously served on the board of directors of Avnet, Inc. from 1999 until 2008, when he resigned to take on an employment-related role requiring him to relocate to Europe. He rejoined the Avnet board in May 2011.
As a member of Avnet's Board of Directors, Mr. Lawrence serves as a member of the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee and Finance Committee.
Last updated: January 2024