A Message from Peter Gleason on the passing of Michael A. Daniels, 2024 B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award recipient

With the passing of Michael A Daniels, the 2024 recipient of NACD’s B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award, the director community has lost a visionary leader and a steadfast advocate for strong governance.

Mike’s values—fairness, integrity, caring—were grounded in his childhood, where he worked as a janitor, salesman, and truck driver for his father’s business. He was an Eagle Scout and maintained deep connections with the Boy Scouts of America throughout his life. These life experiences and more solidly established his belief that business is about helping people.

Throughout his career, Mike served on more than 20 public, private and non-profit boards, often as the chairman. His most recent roles were chairman of the board for CACI International Inc. and Two Six Labs. He had a reputation for his business acumen, often described as having the Midas touch. For example, in 1995, he led the acquisition of Network Solutions, a technology company and domain-name registrar, by Science Applications International Corp. for $4.7 million. By 2000, Daniels played a key role in facilitating the sale of Network Solutions to VeriSign for nearly $20 billion. This acquisition still stands on Wall Street as one of the greatest returns on any investment in a five-year period. This achievement and many others were the direct result of Mike’s extraordinary judgement and decades of experience and commitment to innovation.

Daniels was also known as a vocal advocate for bringing the private sector and federal government together to protect our nation’s most critical assets and advance cyber risk management, data analytics, and digital transformation.

Last year, the governance profession recognized Mike for his servant leadership and integrity by awarding him the NACD B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award. His leadership in corporate governance and business exemplifies what the B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award stands for: calm leadership, visionary guidance, intellectual rigor, and wise stewardship. Mike’s contributions run deep, and his legacy will continue to inspire boards for years to come.

I was fortunate enough to get to know Mike and each conversation with him was a valuable learning experience. A dear friend to many in the NACD community, Mike will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and gratitude go out to the entire Daniels family.