Anant Agarwal, PhD, CEO of edX, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT

Wed 10/1, 11am – 12pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Anant Agarwal is the CEO of edX, an online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT. Anant taught the first edX course on circuits and electronics from MIT, which drew 155,000 students from 162 countries. He has served as the director of CSAIL, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. He is a successful serial entrepreneur, having co-founded several companies including Tilera Corporation, which created the Tile multicore processor, and Virtual Machine Works.

Anant won the Maurice Wilkes prize for computer architecture, and MIT’s Smullin and Jamieson prizes for teaching. He holds a Guinness World Record for the largest microphone array, and is an author of the textbook “Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits.”

Scientific American selected his work on organic computing as one of 10 World- Changing Ideas in 2011, and he was named in Forbes’ list of top 15 education innovators in 2012. Anant, a pioneer in computer architecture, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the ACM.

He hacks on WebSim, an online circuits laboratory, in his spare time. Anant holds a Ph.D. from Stanford and a bachelor’s from IIT Madras.

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Andréa Backman, PhD, Senior Vice President & Dean, Jack Welch Management Institute

Wed 10/1, 12pm – 1pm EST
Forum: Increasing the Value of Management Education

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Douglas L. Becker, Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Laureate Education Inc.

Wed 10/1, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Forum: Increasing the Value of Management Education

Douglas L. Becker is chairman and chief executive officer of Laureate Education, Inc., the world’s leading network of higher education institutions. Mr. Becker has led the company since 1991, when it was known as Sylvan Learning Systems. Mr. Becker built Sylvan Learning Systems into the K-12 tutoring leader, with nearly 2,000 learning centers and 200,000 students before branching out into higher education in 1999. The Sylvan tutoring business was sold in 2003 to allow Laureate to focus on higher education.

Today, Laureate Education is a trusted global leader in providing access to high quality, innovative institutions of higher education. The Laureate International Universities network celebrates it’s 15th anniversary this year and has since grown to include over 850,000 students at more than 75 campus-based and online institutions in 29 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. President William J. Clinton, 42nd president of the United States, serves as the Honorary Chancellor of the Laureate International Universities network, a role in which he offers advice on social responsibility, youth leadership and increasing access to higher education.

Mr. Becker is deeply committed to community service. He is the board chair of the International Youth Foundation, which has invested more than $200 million to improve conditions and prospects for young people in close to 80 countries. With Mr. Becker’s guidance, IYF expanded its YouthActionNet® program, which supports young social entrepreneurs around the globe. Mr. Becker also supports many civic groups in Baltimore, Maryland, his hometown.

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Sean M. Belka, Senior Vice President and Director of the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, Fidelity Investments

Wed 10/1, 4pm – 5pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Sean Belka is senior vice president, director of Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), a unit of Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals, institutions and financial intermediaries. FCAT’s vision is to serve as Fidelity’s idea and innovation catalyst, helping Fidelity’s employees and businesses to imagine and realize the possibilities of emerging technologies and new ideas.

Mr. Belka joined Fidelity in 1993 to lead marketing and product development for Fidelity Trust Company. In 1997, he became senior vice president, Mutual Fund Customer Marketing for FPI. In 1998, he transitioned to FPI’s Core Segment, where he led Fidelity’s efforts to better understand and serve its mass market and mass affluent customers. From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Belka served in FPI’s Online Brokerage unit, where he was responsible for Fidelity’s strategic partnerships with online content providers, marketing partners and online capabilities providers. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Belka led FPI’s market research, database marketing, CRM, lead management and customer analysis and modeling functions. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Belka led FPI’s customer strategy and marketing efforts for Emerging, Engaged, Established, High Net Worth, Active Trader and Corporate Employee segments and was also responsible for FPI’s direct acquisition efforts and online marketing. Prior to his current role, Mr. Belka was senior vice president, Online Strategy, where he led the re-design of fidelity.com, transforming it into a more content rich and engaging experience.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Belka was a senior vice president for Digitas, LLC in Boston. His responsibilities included client engagement with start-up and blue chip companies, providing strategy, CRM, Web and direct marketing services. Previously, Mr. Belka was a marketing director for Advanta Credit Cards (now Bank of America) in Philadelphia, where he led customer acquisition, new product development and For more information call Fidelity Corporate Communications at 617-563-5800. 6/11 customer development and retention. He previously worked in strategic planning and new product development at Sallie Mae. Mr. Belka began his career at Citibank, where he was a member of the Management Associate program and a marketing executive in the credit card division.

See other VIP guest from Fidelity Investments: Pam Norley

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Della Bradshaw, Business Education Editor, Financial Times

Wed 10/1, 6am – 7am EST
Forum: Challenging the Business Model of Education

Della Bradshaw is the FT’s Business Education Editor and is responsible for all our business education coverage online, in the newspaper and in our magazines. She established the business education section in 1995 and devised and launched the first FT business school rankings in 1999. Before this, she was the Technology Lead Writer for the FT. She has previously lived and taught in Italy, Turkey and Japan.

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Arthur Brooks, PhD, President, American Enterprise Institute

Wed 10/1, 4pm – 4:30pm
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Arthur C. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He is also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise at AEI.

Immediately before joining AEI, Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and social entrepreneurship.

Brooks is the author of 10 books and hundreds of articles on topics including the role of government, fairness, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise. His latest book, “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise” (2012) was a New York Times bestseller. Among his earlier books are “Gross National Happiness” (2008), “Social Entrepreneurship” (2008), and “Who Really Cares” (2006). Before pursuing his work in public policy, Brooks spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain.

Brooks is a frequent guest on national television and radio talk shows and has been published widely in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Brooks has a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. in policy analysis from RAND Graduate School. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in economics from Thomas Edison State College.

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Robert A. Brown, PhD, President, Boston University

Wed 10/1, 2pm – 3pm EST
Forum: Producing Research with Impact

Dr. Robert A. Brown, a distinguished chemical engineer, has served as president of Boston University since 2005. During his tenure, Boston University produced and has begun executing its first strategic plan, Choosing to be Great, which focuses on strengthening the quality of undergraduate and graduate programs, attracting world-class faculty members, and facilitating their research and scholarship. Significant progress has been made toward these goals, as evidenced by enhanced quality of the incoming undergraduate class, increased ranking of the University and, in 2012, the University being invited to join the Association of American Universities, which includes the 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Also in 2012, the University launched its first comprehensive fundraising campaign to raise $1 billion by 2017; to date, the University has raised over $700 million. The campaign already has led to important new academic initiatives including the Kilachand Honors College, a unique discovery-based approach to fulfilling the general education requirement for our most talented undergraduate students, and the Pardee School for Global Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Brown also is a director of the DuPont Company, a trustee of the Universities Research Association, a director of the American Council on Education, and has served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for President George W. Bush. He also serves as chairman of the Academic Research Council of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Singapore, is a member of Singapore’s Research Innovation and Enterprise Council, and is a trustee of The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC).

Before coming to Boston University, Dr. Brown held a number of leadership positions at MIT, including provost, dean of the School of Engineering, and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He has published more than 250 papers in areas related to mathematical modeling of transport phenomena in materials, and he served as executive editor of the Journal of Chemical Engineering Science from 1991 to 2004. He was named an honorary citizen of the Republic of Singapore in 2005 and in 2008, was honored as one of the top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He and his wife Beverly have two grown sons.

See other Boston University VIPs: Ken Freeman, James Post, Michael Salinger, N. Venkatraman

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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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Sangeet Chowfla, President & CEO, Graduate Management Admission Council

Forum: Engaging New-Generation Students & Employees

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

Sangeet Chowfla is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, the nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®). He became President of the worldwide association in September 2013 and Chief Executive Officer in January 2014.

Sangeet has more than 32 years’ experience in P&L Management, General Management, Product Management, International Business Development and Venture Capital investment, gained in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East. His particular area of expertise is the management of high-growth enterprises, the creation of high-performance teams, and the internationalization of businesses.

Most recently, Sangeet was EVP-Global Markets and Chief Strategy Officer at Comviva Technologies where he managed the company’s customer-facing Market Units (SAARC, Africa, MENA, LATAM, Europe/Americas). Previously, Sangeet managed the company’s Mobile Solutions unit, comprising all the product businesses, and was responsible for establishing Comviva’s operations in Africa and Latin America. During his tenure, Comviva’s overall revenues quadrupled to approximately $100 million, while international business grew 12-fold with a customer base of 110 mobile operators in 85 countries. As CSO, he advised the board on long-term strategy and direction.

Previous to his work at Comviva, Sangeet was a partner with Timeline Ventures in San Diego (2001-2006), participating in the acquisition and turnaround of Del Mar Datatrac (mortgage software). Sangeet was the lead investor and Executive Chairman of Technocom, leading the company’s Series A round of financing.

Earlier in his career, Sangeet held various management positions at the Hewlett-Packard Company over an 18-year period including sales and marketing management positions in Athens, Germany and Singapore. In 1995, Sangeet moved to San Diego, California, where he was Vice President and General Manager of HP’s Inkjet Media Division, which he grew from a startup to $300 million in revenues.

Sangeet took his BA in Economics from St. Stephen’s College at Delhi University and his MBA, with focus on marketing and finance, from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

A global citizen, Sangeet has worked and lived in India, Dubai, Greece, Germany, Singapore and the United States.

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Deborah Dugan, CEO, RED

Wed 10/1, 3pm – 4pm EST
Forum: Engaging New-Generation Students & Employees

“Today, the key to being groundbreaking, relevant, timely and successful is embracing disruption.  If you are not breaking the mold – someone else is. Since joining (RED) in 2011, my goal has been to move fast, break things and innovate.  Traditionally, it has been business that owned the market on product and service innovation. What Apple did for music… what Spanx is doing for cellulite… what Twitter has done for communication… non-profits like (RED) are now doing to fight the world’s greatest problems. We’re making fighting AIDS simple and accessible on a mass scale.”

In 2011, Deborah Dugan joined (RED) as the non-profit’s Chief Executive Officer, and under her leadership (RED) has welcomed global proud partners such as The Coca-Cola Company, SAP, Bank of America and Latin America’s major mobile carriers Claro and Telcel.  With Deborah Dugan at the helm, (RED) has solidified its identity as both a non-profit and a brand – standing for optimism, the best in art and design, perpetually game-changing, impact obsessed and purposefully provocative.  Her motto:  (RED)’s DNA is creativity.  Tap into the creative passions of consumers so that they give a damn.  Tap into the creativity of major celebrities so that they use their reach to give a damn, and tap into the best creative talent at major companies so that they too give a damn.  Only when these forces work together can (RED) break the dam of indifference and create real change in the fight against AIDS.

In just three short years at (RED), Deborah has continuously pushed the boundaries for how social media is creatively used for social good. Her accomplishments include leading (RED) to both set and break a number of world records. In 2011, (RED) was recognized as the first cause to have reached audiences over 1 million on both Facebook and Twitter. In June 2013, (RED) partnered with Mashable and set a new world record using the emerging video app, Vine; and in February 2014, (RED) teamed with Bank of America and U2 on a Super Bowl initiative, raising more than $3million and breaking the world record for the most digital downloads of a song in 24 hours.

Deborah has written for the Huffington Post and McKinsey’s Social Innovation publication. Her recent speeches include: IEG Sponsorship Conference, the University of Utah Law School Commencement address, New York’s WIE “Trail Blazing” Conference, Columbia University’s Social Enterprise Conference 2013, NYU Social Innovation Summit 2014 and Boston University Business School. Deborah was included in Forbes Magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” issue for ‘Social Entrepreneurism’, and is a “Disruptive Innovation” Fellow.

Prior to (RED), Deborah was President of Disney Publishing Worldwide, generating $1.8 billion in global retail sales.  During her eight years at Disney, she oversaw 275 magazines and published more than 4,000 new book titles. In addition, she acquired Baby Einstein, and launched Disney English language learning programs throughout Asia. She also served as Senior Advisor to the Tribeca Enterprises Board.  Deborah’s roots are in the music industry – she spent eight years as Executive Vice President at EMI/Capitol Records. Deborah began her career as an attorney on Wall Street.

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