Jamie P. Merisotis, President and CEO, Lumina Foundation

Wed 10/1 4pm – 5pm EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Jamie P. Merisotis is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, the nation’s largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from college.  Under his leadership, Lumina employs a strategic, outcomes-based approach in pursuing the Foundation’s mission of expanding college access and success particularly among low-income, minority and other historically underrepresented populations.  Lumina’s goal is to ensure that, by 2025, 60 percent of Americans hold high quality degrees, certificates and other credentials—up from the current level of less than 40 percent.

Before joining Lumina in 2008, Merisotis founded and served 15 years as president of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy, one of the world’s premier education research and policy centers.  He previously served as executive director of the National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education, a bipartisan commission appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. Merisotis also helped create the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), and serves on numerous national and international boards of directors, including Bates College in Maine, Anatolia College in Greece, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

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John A. Byrne, President, Editor in Chief, Poets & Quants

Thurs 10/2, 10am – 11am EST
Forum: Challenging the Business Model of Education

Thurs 10/2, 3pm – 4pm EST
Forum: Evaluating Policy & Rankings

John A. Byrne is chairman and editor-in-chief of C-Change Media Inc., a digital media startup that is launching a network of websites for the global business community. C-Change currently has two highly successful sites, Poets&Quants.com and Poets&QuantsforExecs.com. Little more than two years old, P&Q generates more than one million monthly page views and boasts a book imprint division which published its first title in 2012. Byrne is also the author of “World Changers: 25 Entrepreneurs Who Changed Business As We Knew It,” his first book in ten years since the publication of his collaboration with General Electric Chairman Jack Welch. That book, “Straight from the Gut,” was a New York Times bestseller for 26 consecutive weeks.

Byrne’s collaboration with Mort Mandel, a self-made billionaire and highly successful entrepreneur in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds, will be published in December of 2012 by Jossey-Bass as part of its Warren Bennis leadership series. The book is entitled “It’s All About Who You Hire, How They Lead…and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader.”

Until Nov. of 2009, Byrne had been executive editor and editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.com. He led BusinessWeek.com to record levels of reader engagement and traffic, oversaw the redesign of the site, and launched extensive new areas of coverage on management and lifestyle. Mr. Byrne initiated the site’s twice-daily executive news summary, weekly interactive case studies, multi-media classroom videos, as well as new blogs and podcasts. He helped to develop and launch a major Web 2.0 initiative called the Business Exchange, an innovative product utilizing social media and news aggregation.

Under his leadership, BusinessWeek.com won two consecutive National Magazine Awards, the most prestigious recognition in magazine publishing, an EPpy for Best Business Website with over one million unique visitors (over The Wall Street Journal), and second place honors as the Best Website of the Year for news and business by the Magazine Publishers Association. In 2008 alone, BW.com captured an unprecedented 21 awards and nominations for journalism excellence. His weekly podcast on Business Week’s cover story has been downloaded nearly 10 million times. Mr. Byrne’s views on the future of journalism have made him a popular speaker and essayist. In the past two years, he has spoken at more than a dozen conferences, has been frequently interviewed about the new world of journalism, and has been published by Harvard University’s Nieman Reports, The Christian Science Monitor, and MediaWeek magazine.

Prior to role at BusinessWeek.com, he was the executive editor for the print publication since 2005, during which he began three new annual franchises, including the highly successful Customer Service Champions and the Best Places to Launch a Career, and recruited to the magazine such popular weekly columnists as Jack and Suzy Welch, Maria Bartiromo, and renown wine critic Robert Parker.

Previously, Mr. Byrne was editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine. He joined Fast Company in April 2003, succeeding founding editors Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, where he worked to reinvent the business magazine. Under his leadership, Fast Company won many coveted journalism awards, including its first Gerald Loeb award, the highest honor in business journalism. Mr. Byrne also made Fast Company the first business brand to launch an online blog and created, through a partnership with Monitor Group, an annual award competition for social entrepreneurs. More importantly, Mr. Byrne found and cultivated a buyer for the magazine, resulting in a $35 million purchase that saved the publication from an almost certain closure.

Before joining Fast Company, he worked for BusinessWeek for nearly 18 years, most recently holding the position of Senior Writer and authoring a record 57 cover stories for the magazine. His articles have explored the fairness of executive pay, the folly of management fads, and the governance of major corporations. Mr. Byrne’s magazine writing has won numerous awards and has been republished in collections of the best writing on business. He was named a National Magazine Award finalist as well as a Gerald Loeb award finalist twice. Among his more widely recognized cover stories are “Philip Morris: Inside America’s Most Reviled Company,” a provocative exploration of the men who ran the largest tobacco corporation in the world, “The Fall of a Dot-Com,” an investigative story on how big-name investors, blinded by Net fever, poured millions into a dot-com that fell into bankruptcy, “Joe Berardino’s Fall from Grace,” a narrative of how Arthur Andersen’s CEO presided over the demise of his legendary firm, “The Man Who Invented Management,” a reflective essay on why management guru Peter Drucker’s ideas still matter, and “Are CEOs Paid Too Much?,” an early examination (1992) of why executive compensation was out-of-control.

Mr. Byrne developed the idea of a monthly best-sellers list, launched the industry-leading business school rankings, established and managed the magazine’s ranking of the best and worst corporate boards, and created its annual list of the most generous philanthropists. He also built out the business education franchise online in the mid-1990s, setting the stage for a highly regarded online community and one that has reaped tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue for BusinessWeek. He has been a frequent commentator on television, having appeared on CNN’s Moneyline and CNBC’s Squawk Box and Business Center.

Mr. Byrne is the author or co-author of more than ten books on business, leadership, and management, including two national bestsellers. World Changers, to be published by Penguin Books’ Portfolio imprint, is his first book in ten years. His previous book, published Sept. 11, 2001 by Warner Books, was Jack: Straight from the Gut, the highly anticipated collaboration with former General Electric Co. CEO Jack Welch. The book debuted at the very top of The New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for 26 consecutive weeks. Mr. Byrne has written or co-authored seven other books, including Chainsaw (HarperCollins, 1999), the behind-the-scenes story of Al Dunlap’s rise and fall as a business celebrity. The book received widespread acclaim. Publishers Weekly called the book a “blistering saga” and a “sizzling tale.” The Street.com said Chainsaw “should be required reading in all business and accounting schools.”

Mr. Byrne’s other books include: Informed Consent (McGraw-Hill, 1995); The Headhunters (MacMillan, 1986); Odyssey (Harper & Row, 1987), the business biography of former Apple Computer chairman John Sculley; and The Whiz Kids (Currency/Doubleday, 1993), which explored the life and times of ten Army Air Force officers who helped to remake the Ford Motor Co. in the post-war period. Managment guru Tom Peters called The Whiz Kids “an important milestone in American management analysis. Warren Bennis has said the book is “the best history of American business from World War II to the present.” Mr. Byrne also wrote BusinessWeek’s Guide to the Best Business Schools (McGraw-Hill, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, and 1997) and co-wrote BusinessWeek’s Guide to the Best Executive Education Programs (McGraw-Hill, 1992).

As part of a new book imprint division at Poets&Quants, Byrne also is the co-author of “Handicapping Your MBA Odds: Profiles of 101 Applicants & Their Odds of Getting Into a Top Business School.” The book was published in the summer of 2012.

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Michael Wright, Global Chief Information Officer, McKinsey & Co.

Wed 10/1, 1pm – 2pm EST
Forum: Fostering Ethical Leadership

Mike Wright is the Global Chief Information Officer for McKinsey and Company, the international management consultancy. Previously he has held similar roles for Man Group plc; for Fidelity International; and for the Willis Group Ltd. All four roles have spanned multiple international locations, with genuinely global remits. At Willis, he worked closely with the private equity firm, KKR, to take the company private and then return to a public listing on the NYSE.

In addition to these CIO roles, Mike has seen the financial services industry and IT function from a number of other vantage points. Between 1984 and 1997, he worked as a consultant at both Accenture and McKinsey on various IT and general business assignments; he founded and ran a software products company for four years, and was also a non executive director of another software start up specializing in digital rights management.

In 2008, 2010 & 2011, he was voted one of the top 50 CIO’s in the UK in a survey by Silicon.com. He has been a CIO advisor for HP; part of the Accenture panel of Global CIO’s and worked with Boston University to forecast the strategic direction for offshoring and outsourcing.

Mike graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Biochemistry after doing research into Parkinson’s disease. Outside work, Mike enjoys his family, sport and travel. He is also actively involved with charity work in different roles.

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Jeffrey Selingo, Contributing Editor, “The Chronicle of Higher Education”; Professor of Practice, Arizona State University

Wed 10/1, 9am – 10am EST
Forum: Engaging New-Generation Students & Employees

Jeff Selingo is a best-selling author and award-winning columnist who helps parents and higher-education leaders imagine the college and university of the future: how families will pay, what campuses will look like, how students will learn, and what experiences will lead to success in a fast-changing economy.

His book, College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students, was a New York Times best selling education book in 2013. His latest book, MOOC U: Who Is Getting the Most Out of Online Education and Why, was published in September by Simon & Schuster, and he is working on his next book about the post-college job market due in 2016 from William Morrow/HarperCollins.

A contributing editor to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeff is also a professor of practice at Arizona State University. He is the former top editor of The Chronicle, where he worked for 16 years in a variety of reporting and editing roles. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate, and he is a contributor to LinkedIn, where you can follow his blog posts on higher education.

Jeff’s work has been honored with awards from the Education Writers Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press. He has been the keynote speaker before dozens of associations and universities and appears regularly on regional and national radio and television programs, including NPR, ABC, and CBS.

Jeff received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in government from the Johns Hopkins University.

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Peter Rohan, Senior Member of Ernst & Young’s Education Industry Group

Forum: Driving Learning Experiences

*Forum Hosts engage throughout the 60 hours at unscheduled times.

Peter is a senior member of Ernst & Young’s Education Industry Group. He has extensive experience both locally and internationally. Peter’s key expertise is in public policy reform, strategy & operational improvement and organisational change. He has over 25 years’ experience in leading and managing important projects across a variety of organisations and a diverse range of stakeholder groups.

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Rebecca L. Ray, PhD, Executive Vice President, Knowledge Organization and Human Capital Practice Lead, The Conference Board

Tues 9/30, 2pm – 3pm EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Chat: Tues 9/30, 11:00 am – 11:30 am EST
Foster Business School and Corporate Partnerships

Rebecca Ray serves as the Executive Vice President, Knowledge Organization and Human Capital Practice Lead for The Conference Board. In this role, she has oversight of the research planning and dissemination process for all three practices areas (Corporate Leadership, Economics & Business Development and Human Capital) and is responsible for the research agenda which, in turn, drives the business planning process for The Conference Board. She is responsible for overall quality and the continuing integration of our research and engagement efforts. She oversees Ask TCB™ our Business Information Service as well as The Conference Board Review®. Rebecca is the leader of the global human capital practice. Human capital research at The Conference Board focuses on human capital analytics, labor markets, workforce readiness, strategic workforce planning, talent management, diversity and inclusion, human resources, leadership development and employee engagement. In addition to published research, related products and services at The Conference Board include peer learning networks, conferences, webcasts, and experiential and other executive events. She hosts the monthly Human Capital Watch™ webcast, which explores current issues, research and practitioner successes in the fi eld of human capital. She oversees the Human Capital Exchange™, a website that offers research and insights from The Conference Board, our knowledge partners, and human capital practitioners. She created the Senior Fellows Program in human capital with some of the profession’s most acclaimed leaders. She is the Director of The Engagement Institute™, a research community of practice she created with Deloitte Consulting and Sirota. She is the co-author of numerous publications with a focus on leadership development and engagement. Rebecca is a frequent speaker at professional and company sponsored conferences and business briefings around the world. She is often a guest in business media (Bloomberg TV (Hong Kong and Europe) and Bloomberg Radio, CNBC India, and her research, commentary, initiatives and the accomplishments of her various teams have been featured in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and South China Morning Post newspapers as well as in Harvard Business Review, ChiefLearning Offi cer, Leadership Excellence, Training, CIO, Workforce Management, Human Resources, HR Magazine (Hong Kong), Chief Executive Offi cer, HR Magazine (UK), EMBA Magazine (Taiwan), People & Strategy (The Professional Journal of HRPS)and Talent Management. Rebecca was previously a senior executive responsible, at various times, for talent acquisition, organizational learning, training, management and leadership development, employee engagement, performance management, executive assessment, coaching, organizational development, and succession planning at several marquis companies. She taught at Oxford and New York Universities and led a consulting practice for many years, offering leadership assessment and development services to Fortune 500 companies and top-tier professional services fi rms. She was named “Chief Learning Offi cer of the Year” by Chief Learning Offi cer magazine, and one of the “Top 100 People in Leadership Development” by Warren Bennis’s Leadership Excellence magazine. She serves on the Advisory Boards for New York University’s Program in Higher Education/Business Education at The Steinhardt School of Education, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Work-Based Learning Leadership and was recently elected to serve on the Business Practices Council of the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). Rebecca received her Ph.D. from New York University. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including her co-authored work, Measuring Leadership Development (McGraw-Hill) in 2012 and Measuring Employee Engagement (ASTD), expected in 2014.

See other VIP guest from The Conference Board: Jonathan Spector

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Martin Nisenholtz, Former Chief Digital Officer, The New York Times Company

Forum: Harnessing Digital Technology

*Forum Hosts engage throughout the 60 hours at unscheduled times.

Martin is a Venture Partner at Firstmark Capital in New York and an Adjunct Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He recently completed a Fellowship at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he co-developed Riptide: An Oral History of the Epic Collision between Journalism and Digital Technology, 1980 to the Present (www.digitalriptide.org).  Martin currently serves on the boards of PostMedia Networks (PNC/A), Yellow Media (Y:CN), Exelate, Sulia and RealMatch. He is an advisor to Carmel Ventures and the Online Publishers Association.

From 1995-2012, Martin managed digital operations for The New York Times Company and was the founding leader at nytimes.com in 1996.  In 1983, Martin founded the Interactive Marketing Group (IMG) at Ogilvy & Mather. IMG was the first digital agency at a major US advertising firm.  In 2002, Martin founded the Online Publishers Association, today the leading trade association among quality content providers. Martin began his career as a research scientist and assistant professor at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, where he serves on the Alumni Board.

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Chairman Seung-Han Lee Ph. D, Next & Partners Chairman, Former Samsung Corporation President & CEO, Former Homeplus CEO & Chairman

Tues 9/30, 10:30pm – 11:30pm EST
Forum: Increasing the Value of Management Education

Dr. Lee is Chairman of Next and Partners. Currently, he serves as President of UNGC Korea Network.

He served Samsung for 30 years. He led disruptive transformation of Samsung Group as Head of New Management Team at Samsung Chairman’s Office, and then he became President and CEO of Samsung Corporation.

Thereafter, he founded Homeplus, a joint venture company between Samsung and Tesco in 1997 and became the first President and CEO. He led the unprecedented level of growth at Homeplus, moving to the leading position from the 12th, very last position in only 5 years. He created innovative store formats such as the world’s first “virtual store.” In 2003, he became Chairman of Homeplus; Tesco Academy; and eParan Foundation.

He has been a Board Member of HSDM at Harvard University since 2004. He is ajoint head professor for CEO Sustainability Management Forum at Seoul National University, adjunct professor at Yonsei University, and endowed-chair professor Seoul Cyber University.

In 2013, as a visiting scholar and Executive-in-Residence (EIR) at Boston University, he led roundtable sessions for 6months to discuss and explore “the Essence of Management” in depth with a group of senior professors.

He holds Honorary Ph.D. in Business Management and Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Engineering.

He received the Best CEO Award and the Most Creative CEO Award in Korea, as well as the Order of Industrial Service Merit for management innovation and the Order of Civil Merit for eco-friendly management from the Korean government. He also received the Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) from Queen Elizabeth II.

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Martha Josephson, Partner, Digital Media Global Practice Leader, Egon Zehnder

Tues 9/30, 8pm – 9pm EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Martha has been a partner at Egon Zehnder for 16 years, and is industry recognized as a trusted advisor to many of the world’s most admired organizations. She leads the firm’s Global Digital Practice, which she founded in 1997 as the first purely digital practice in any global executive search firm; now the industry leader.  She also co-leads the Global Media Practice. She is one of the most sought after and reputed talent consultants in the Silicon Valley, and from her base in Palo Alto operates locally and  globally to secure, retain and develop exceptional C-level and Board talent for the world’s leading e-based and media centric organizations. She leads the Firm’s significant relationship with Google handling more than 300 executive searches as their primary partner over the course of the last ten plus years.

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Jeanette Horan, Managing Director, IBM Corp.

Thurs 10/2, 12:30pm – 1:30pm EST
Forum: Engaging New-Generation Students & Employees

Ms. Horan was appointed to the role of Managing Director for Bank of America account in July 2014. In this role she is responsible for IBM’s business with Bank, bringing IBM innovations to help the Bank in their ongoing transformation.

Previously Ms. Horan was the Chief Information Officer of IBM where she led the development and implementation of a technology strategy in close partnership with the business. Her emphasis was on the confluence of social, mobile, cloud and analytics; and how to use these technologies securely to personalize and enhance employee and client experiences.

Prior to her CIO position, Ms. Horan was the vice president of Enterprise Business Transformation, leading IBM’s transformation program for key back office processes to accelerate IBM’s leadership as a globally integrated enterprise.

Ms. Horan joined IBM in 1998, and has held leadership positions within the Lotus brand, Information Management and IBM Software Group Strategy. Prior to joining the CIO office in 2006, Ms. Horan was responsible for worldwide product development for the Information Management business in Software Group, and was the General Manager of IBM’s Silicon Valley Laboratory.

Prior to joining Lotus, Ms. Horan spent four years with Digital Equipment Corporation where she was vice president of development for the AltaVista business, bringing the Web search engine and suite of intranet products to market. She has more than 30 years experience in development and management roles in the computer industry.

As part of her business and personal involvement in the advancement of technology and service to the community, Ms. Horan serves on the board of Microvision Inc., an innovative display and imaging solutions company. She also serves as a director on the board of Jane Do No More Inc., an organization committed to improving the way society responds to victims of sexual assault.

A native of the United Kingdom, Ms. Horan earned a bachelors degree.

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