Kazimierz J. Herchold

Cover of Business Management Europe, 2003

After graduating from W&L Kaz received his law degree from New York University, where he was a Root Tilden Scholar, which is about as distinguished as law school honors get, and editor of NYU’s Journal of International Law and Politics. Then he earned a master’s in law from the London School of Economics. After L.S.E. he spent three years at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in New York, which convinced him “it was less frustrating to do things yourself by joining the business world rather than advising people what to do as a lawyer. The country is over-lawyered as it is, and there’s no question that I’m not missed by other lawyers or prospective clients.”

Since that epiphany 32 years ago he has worked for Xerox. He writes: “I’m based in Connecticut and am responsible for our relations with our partner, Fujifilm, and our joint venture, Fuji Xerox; hence the somewhat misleading title of Vice President, Fuji Xerox Operations. I sit on the board of directors of Fuji Xerox and can regale you with minor anecdotes of what it’s like to be an American on the board of a Japanese company. I travel to Japan seven or eight times a year so they like me better at United Airlines than at Fuji Xerox.

“I spent 14 of those 32 years at Xerox abroad, living in Delhi for three as the first Xerox general manager in India; eight years in London in marketing and as general manager of the engineering systems division; and three years in Hong Kong as head of China business development during which I was interim general manager in China for six months, based in Shanghai (while they rightly conducted a search for a Chinese). On my return to the U.S., and before taking my present job, I was responsible for marketing in what we euphemistically refer to as ‘developing markets’ (everything outside of North America and western Europe).”

Kaz and his wife, Evelyn, a Penn State alum, have two children: Jan, 31, a teacher who has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a master’s from Pace in New York; and Karl, 30, a lawyer who did his undergraduate work at Georgetown and received a law degree from Tulane. In his words again: “I regret W&L was not coed during our time and that I was unable to persuade my sons to matriculate. I know, however, that I enjoyed my college days a lot more at W&L than they did elsewhere.”

Kaz and Evelyn live in Greenwich, Connecticut. He skis, plays tennis and sails, and is a communicant at St. Mary’s Church.

(I think this is where he works. — Editor.)