Chair (officer)

The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly.

[12][13][14] Feminist critiques have analysed Chairman as an example of sexist language, associating the male gender with the exercise of authority, this has led to the widespread use of the generic "Chairperson".

[17][18] The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style (2000) suggested that the gender-neutral forms were gaining ground; it advocated chair for both men and women.

[19] The Daily Telegraph's style guide bans the use of chair and chairperson; the newspaper's position, as of 2018, is that "chairman is correct English".

[7][24] In the British music hall tradition, the chairman was the master of ceremonies who announced the performances and was responsible for controlling any rowdy elements in the audience.

The role was popularised on British TV in the 1960s and 1970s by Leonard Sachs, the chairman on the variety show The Good Old Days.

Lenin, for example, officially functioned as the head of Soviet Russian government not as prime minister or as president but as "Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars".

If the chair exceeds their authority, engages in misconduct, or fails to perform their duties, they may face disciplinary procedures.

[citation needed] Executive chair is an office separate from that of CEO, where the titleholder wields influence over company operations, such as Larry Ellison of Oracle, Douglas Flint of HSBC and Steve Case of AOL Time Warner.

In particular, the group chair of HSBC is considered the top position of that institution, outranking the chief executive, and is responsible for leading the board and representing the company in meetings with government figures.

[48] This type of deputy chair title on its own usually has only an advisory role and not an operational one (such as Ted Turner at Time Warner).