Ramon O’Callaghan, DBA, Dean of the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business

Thurs 10/2, 9am – 10am EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Ramon O’Callaghan is Dean at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business in Kazakhstan, a new business school established in strategic collaboration with Duke University. Previously, he was dean of the business school at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands. Over the years he has held numerous academic management positions: Director of Deusto Business School and Vice-Rector at Deusto University in Spain, Associate Dean at Tilburg University and Director International Executive MBA (a joint program with Purdue University), and Director International MBA at Nijenrode University in the Netherlands.  Formerly, he was on the faculty of IESE Business School, and was a researcher at the Harvard Business School. Prior to his academic career, he worked internationally at Texas Instruments for several years.

His research interests include: Management of Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Management.  His work has been published in books, journals, and conference proceedings, e.g. MIT Press, Journal of Marketing, Journal of IT, European Journal of IS, International Conference on IS, European Conference on IS. In 2006, he earned “best paper” awards at the Hawaii International Conference on Information Sciences, and at the International Conference on Information Systems in Milwaukee.  He has actively contributed to several research programs of the European Commission (IST, TEDIS, RACE) and has been the coordinator of an international project on innovation clusters.  He has also supervised and examined PhD research for the following universities: Aalborg (Denmark), Antwerp (Belgium), Cape Town (South Africa), Cork (Ireland), KU Leuven (Belgium), Hohenheim (Germany), Sussex (UK), Tilburg (Netherlands), and Turku (Finland).

His professional experience includes executive education and consulting projects for American, European and Asian organizations, e.g. Aegon, BUPA, Chubb, Danisco, Eureko, European Commission, Fortis, IBM, Independent Insurance Agents of America, ING, Kazakhmys, KPMG, Maryland Casualty, Nolan & Norton, Philips, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, Samruk-Kazyna, Shell, UBS. He has also taught in executive programs of IESE, INSEAD, London Business School, MIT Sloan, Purdue University, and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

Ramon O’Callaghan holds the following degrees:  Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard Business School; MBA from IESE Business School; MSc and BSc in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia (also known as UPC BarcelonaTech). His education also included courses at the MIT Sloan Questrom School of Business and at École Supérieure du Commerce de Paris, ESCP, in France.

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Neil S. Braun, JD, Dean, Lubin School of Business, Pace University

Tues 9/30, 10:30am – 11am EST
Forum: Evaluating Policy & Rankings

Neil S. Braun is the Dean of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business in New York since July 2010.  His first initiatives there included the creation of the Center for Global Governance, Reporting and Regulation and a professional certification program for financial institution compliance executives. He has previously been President of the NBC Television Network, Chairman and CEO of Viacom Entertainment, an internet and environmental entrepreneur, a film producer and corporate attorney. Braun serves on the board of directors and the audit and governance committees of IMAX Corporation(NYSE),  He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee for national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength and is President of the Board of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. He is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and was chosen by that organization in 2012 as “one to watch.” Braun currently serves on the AACSB’s Business Practices Council and the Committee on Accreditation Policy.

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James Ciriello, ‎Associate Vice President, IT Planning & Innovation at Merck & Co.

Thurs 10/2, 5pm – 6pm EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Jim Ciriello is Associate Vice President of IT Planning and Innovation for Merck, where he is focused on orchestrating the work of strategy, portfolio, architecture, innovation, digital business modeling, communications and learning across the larger organization. His previous roles at Merck include Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Health IT, which was focused on shaping the external environment and preparing the organization to compete on a new landscape of health information infrastructure, Senior Director of Strategy and Service Architecture for Shared Business Services and Senior Director of Business and Solutions Architecture for Human Health Information Technology. Prior to joining Merck, Jim worked at Boston University as Executive Director and Executive-in-Residence for the Boston University Institute for Leading in a Dynamic Economy (BUILDE), a research collaborative created to explore the effects of emerging technologies on competitive markets and organizations. Program Director for Global Mobility Insights and Innovations (GMII), a multi-university research program created to study the business impact of mobility and convergence of communications. In both roles, Jim worked with academia and industry to explore business platforms, real options, technological innovations and end user framed design. Prior to joining Boston University, Jim worked at AT&T and Lucent Technologies as a Director in positions spanning core business and the information technology organization. He is deeply rooted in the disciplines of business strategy, demand creation, functional architecture, systems engineering, and software development.

Jim is co-author of managerial points of view, including “Smart Health Community: The Hidden Value of Health Information Exchange”, “The Story of Island Man: It’s Not Just the Technology”, “Shaping the Future through Experimentation: Dr. Moulton’s Evolving Cone of Possibilities”, and “Convergence: Creating and Capturing Value for the Enterprise”. Jim holds degrees from St. Peter’s College (BS) and Stevens Institute of Technology (MS) in New Jersey, and attended the Tuck Executive Program at Dartmouth.

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Scott Simon, Former Managing Director of PIMCO

Wed 10/1, 6:30pm – 7pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Scott Simon has thirty years of experience investing in mortgage backed securities. During his tenure at PIMCO from 2000 to 2013, he was a Managing Director and Head of Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities Portfolio Management, a rotating member of the firm’s Investment Committee and co-head of the firm’s Private Equity style funds. Scott spearheaded PIMCO’s research and views on residential real estate starting in 2005, positioning the firm’s accounts for outperformance through the extreme housing and MBS volatility that followed.

Prior to joining PIMCO, Scott was the Co-Head of MBS Trading at Bear Stearns from 1995-1999 and Head of MBS Trading at UBS from 1989-1995. Scott spent 1984 to 1989 as a mortgage and arbitrage trader at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.  Though his role was always as a trader, he was voted onto the Institutional Investor All-America Fixed Income Research Team seven times, including first place awards for mortgage strategies and Mortgage Backed Securities.

Mr. Simon attended Stanford University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and a self-designed Bachelor’s Degree.

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Matthew Robb, Partner at Parthenon

Wed 10/1, 4pm – 5pm EST
Forum: Driving Learning Experiences

Matt joined Parthenon in the autumn of 2010, after working in both public and private sectors within theeducation industry. Matt previously worked at McKinsey & Co., where he led strategy and organization work in a wide range of contexts, from highly successful FTSE 3 companies and mid-caps to public sector institutions and government departments. For seven years, Matt worked in the education support services sector, holding P&L responsibility. He led teams working on school improvement (National Challenge), academy development, the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, and on children’s services technology and management information. Since joining Parthenon, Matt has led our education work in the UK and Europe. He has led work across every stage and sub-sector of education in the UK and across Europe, including public and private schools (K-12), vocational and further education, universities and support services. He has worked in buy and sell-side diligence, international strategy, marketing and sales force strategy and general corporate strategy. Matt holds a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and was the Gatsby Scholar.

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Jacob Chacko, PhD, Dean of the College of Business Administration at Abu Dhabi University

Wednesday 10/1, 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST
Forum: Increasing the Value of Management Education

Dr. Jacob M. Chacko is the Dean of the College of Business Administration at Abu Dhabi University. Prior to joining ADU, he was the Dean of the School of Business at Clayton State University, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Chacko has also held administrative positions as Associate Dean and Department Head at two universities in the US.

At his prior institutions, Dean Chacko successfully led the AACSB accreditation and reaffirmation process. As the Dean of the School of Business at Clayton State University, Jacob led the initiative to develop an academic niche in Supply Chain Management. Under his leadership, the first BBA and an MBA in Supply Chain Management and Logistics in Atlanta were developed. He was also instrumental in developing the Center of Supply Chain Management to connect faculty and students with practitioners and companies for consulting, training, internships, and placement purposes.

Dean Chacko received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from India, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in marketing from Nairobi, Kenya, and Doctorate in of Business Administration in marketing and international business from Marshall Goldsmith Questrom School of Business in San Diego. He is a graduate of the Management Development Program from Harvard University, and was a Fulbright-Hays scholar to Singapore and Malaysia.

Dr. Chacko teaching interests are in international marketing, international business, marketing management, personal marketing, and strategic market planning at the MBA level. He has had his research publications appear in three books, in over 30 national and international academic conference proceedings and in 20 academic journals in marketing and international business. His research interests are the emerging economies of Asia and Central Europe, niche marketing, and ethics in international business. Dean Chacko chairs the AACSB’s Small School Network  and he has been an invited speaker at AACSB and SBAA conferences on faculty development, online course management, and assessment of student learning. He has lived in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States.

 

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Ken Freeman, Allen Questrom Professor and Dean, Boston University Questrom School of Business

Chat: Tues 9/30, 3:00 – 3:30pm EST; Weds 10/2 8:00-9:00am

Bringing Industry and Academia Together to Create Value

Kenneth W. Freeman joined Boston University as the Allen Questrom Professor and Dean of Boston University Questrom School of Business in 2010.

Serving more than 3,400 students and 46,000 alumni, the Questrom School of Business pursues the vision “Creating Value for the World.” The School has transformed its undergraduate and MBA curricula, with a focus on ethics and global citizenship, and sectors that are dramatically impacting the world economy—health and life sciences, digital technology, sustainability and social enterprise.

Ken began his career at Corning Incorporated in 1972, progressing through the financial function before leading several businesses. He joined Corning Clinical Laboratories in 1995, and the company was spun off from Corning as Quest Diagnostics Incorporated soon thereafter. He led the dramatic turnaround of Quest Diagnostics as chairman and chief executive officer through 2004. Exceptional value was created for shareholders by executing a dramatic financial turnaround, establishing industry leadership, demonstrating effective growth through acquisition, and driving organic growth. Quest Diagnostics provided the third highest five-year shareholder returns among the Fortune 500 (1999-2003) and in 2004 was named to the Business Week 50. Market capitalization increased from approximately $350 million at the time of the spin-off to more than $9 billion.

A study of global business leadership conducted at INSEAD and published in the January 2013 issue of the Harvard Business Review named Ken one of the 100 best performing CEOs in the world.

Ken joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), in 2005 and served as a managing director and partner until his appointment as Dean at Boston University. From 2010 through 2013, he was a senior advisor to KKR, serving on the firm’s portfolio management committee.

Ken is currently a director of Lake Region Medical and the Graduate Management Admission Council. He has previously served on the boards of HCA, Masonite (chairman), TRW (lead director), Dow Corning Corporation, Ciba-Corning Corporation, Fleet Bank of New York and the Corning Incorporated Foundation.

Ken is a former member of the Healthcare Leadership Council, and the American Clinical Laboratory Association (chairman). He is the former chairman of The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes and the Corning Philharmonic Society, and a former trustee of Elmira College and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Ken received an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1976, and a BSBA, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Bucknell University in 1972. Ken is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bucknell University.

 

See other Boston University VIPs: Robert A. BrownJames PostMichael Salinger

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Xiongwen Lu, PhD, Dean of Questrom School of Business, Fudan University

Tuesday 9/30, 9:00 am – 10:00 am EST
Forum: Increasing the Value of Management Education

Professor Xiongwen Lu is Dean of Questrom School of Business, Fudan University, and Founding Director of Chinese Marketing Research Center at Fudan University. Prof. Lu’s teaching and research interests cover marketing in China as an immature market, internet marketing in China, service marketing, corporate reorganization, and change management.

Prof. Lu has been serving as Vice President of Chinese Society for Management Modernization since 2010 and Vice Chairman of China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee since 2008. He also serves as Vice President of ABEST 21 (The Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow, a 21st Century Organization), Council Member of AAPBS (Association of Asia-Pacific Business Schools), Board Director of Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), Member of AACSB Asia-Pacific Advisory Council and EFMD Asia Advisory Board.

Prof. Lu received his PhD in Economics from Fudan University and was a Research Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, MIT Sloan Questrom School of Business, and the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University.

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Rick Chavez, Chief Solutions Officer, Microsoft Advertising and Consumer Monetization Business Group

Tuesday 9/30, 10:30am -11:30 am EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation and Entrepreneurship

He is responsible for innovating solutions that enable the world’s most important brands to connect and deeply engage with the customers they serve.   His team works with Global 250 enterprises to solve high-value problems, ones that blend consumer internet and enterprise assets from the broad Microsoft portfolio. In this capacity, he leads an inter-discipline organization that spans field sales, marketing, and engineering, and is comprised of a Consumer Insights team and an xD (Experience Design) team. 

Rick has introduced the ‘Studio Model’: an approach for innovating insight-powered experiences that provide people more of what they want, and less of what they don’t – at work, home, and on-the-go. The insights are based on highly-differentiated frameworks for understanding human behavior, based on the primary research of the Consumer Insights team[1]. These insights are brought to life through design-based capabilities of the xD team. The Studio Model emphasizes co-creation with consumers, brands, and partners, and a test-and-learn iterative approach where are ideas are framed, vetted, and then ‘prototyped into existence.’ In this model, solutions are ‘pulled’ into the market – tuned by the evolving digital habits of consumers and the competitive demands of high-ambition CMOs. 

Rick has 25+ years of experience as an entrepreneur and advisor, helping organizations build substantial market and competitive value through commercializing technology products, services and management approaches. Prior to joining Microsoft, Rick was a managing director at TCG Advisors, a boutique strategy and transformation firm based in Silicon Valley. Some of his work with companies such as Adobe was incorporated in a book on strategy and innovation, Escape Velocity, by Geoffrey Moore (Houghton Mifflin, September 2011). He also served as interim executive and start-up entrepreneur. As interim executive, he was CEO for LOBBY7 and Vice President, Corporate Development for Brix Networks. LOBBY7 was acquired by Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) and Brix was acquired by EXFO Corporation (NASDAQ: EXFO).[1] Key frameworks as described in the book by Natasha Hritzuk and Kelly Jones, both on Rick’s team: Multiscreen Marketing: The Seven Things You Need to Know to Reach Your Customers across TVs, Computers, Tablets, and Mobile Phones. CxO implications of these frameworks can be found in the Afterword.

 

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Matthew Burr, CEO & Co-Founder, Nomadic Learning

Chat: Thurs 10/2, 11 am – 11:30 am

Matt is co-founder and CEO of Nomadic Learning, where he leads content design, production, and overall strategy. He is the former CEO of 50 Lessons, a fluent mandarin speaker, and an independent film producer. Learn more at https://nomadic.fm.

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