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Mutual fund pioneer, Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle talk, Feb. 23

January 24, 2006

Mutual fund pioneer, Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle to speak at Connecticut College on Feb. 23

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Mutual fund pioneer and author John "Jack" Bogle will speak on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 4:30 p.m. in the John C. Evans Hall. The lecture, titled "The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: Doing Your Part to Build the World Anew," is free and open to the public. Bogle will be available afterward to sign books.

He founded the first index fund, the First Index Investment Trust (known today as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund), in 1975. The Vanguard Group, a family of investment funds with assets of more than $920 billion, is now the second-largest mutual fund company in the world.

Bogle, who is the parent of two Connecticut College alumni and grandparent of a current Connecticut College student, has been called the "conscience of the industry" and the best friend of the individual investor. In his fifth and most recent book, The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism (2005), he argues that inflated executive compensation, creative accounting and stock speculation can be attributed to the fact that corporations are now controlled by managers rather than by shareholders.

Bogle served as Vanguard´s chairman and chief executive officer until 1996 and senior chairman until 2000, when he became president of the Bogle Financial Markets Research Center. In 1999 Bogle was called one of the four "giants of the 20th century" by Fortune magazine, and was named as one of the world´s 100 most powerful and influential people by Time magazine in 2004.

Bogle´s other books include Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor (1993), Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor (2000), John Bogle on Investing: The First 50 Years (2000) and Character Counts: The Creation and Building of The Vanguard Group (2002).

Bogle´s lecture is sponsored by the Connecticut College President´s Office.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 42 states and 41 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 84-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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Editor: A color, high-resolution photo of Jack Bogle is available at www.conncoll.edu. Click on "Media" and then "Download Photo Images."

For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu