Scott Noesen is the Global Director of Sustainable Development at Dow Chemical Corporation.
Noesen joined Dow Chemical in 1975 as a Chemical Engineer in the Central Research Laboratory. He has held positions in Research, Technical Service and Development, Commercial Management, Product Management, Market Development, Environmental Health and Safety Management, and Sustainability Management over the 33 years of employment. His last 15 years have been dedicated to the sustainability cause, integrating sustainability trends, issues, and understanding into work processes of the Dow Chemical Company.
Scott Noesen received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University.
Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim is a Sudanese-born British mobile communications entrepreneur. He worked for several other telecommunications companies before founding Celtel. He is currently on the board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and is a member of the Africa Regional Advisory Board of London Business School.
Ibrahim was employed by British Telecom for a time, and later worked as the technical director for Cellnet, a subsidiary of British Telecom. In 1989 he founded MSI, a consultancy and software company, which was bought by Marconi in 2000.
In 1998, MSI spun off MSI-Cellular Investments, later renamed Celtel, as a mobile phone operator in Africa.
In 2006, Ibrahim created the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. The aims of the foundation are The stated aims of the foundation are to: stimulate debate on good governance across sub-Saharan Africa and the world, provide objective criteria by which citizens can hold their Governments to account, and recognize achievement in African leadership and provide a practical way in which African leaders can build positive legacies on the continent when they have left office.
Mo Ibrahim earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Alexandria and a master's degree from the University of Bradford, both in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D from the University of Birmingham in mobile communications.
Mo Ibrahim earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Alexandria and a master's degree from the University of Bradford, both in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D from the University of Birmingham in mobile communications.
Kathleen Mullinix is the CEO and President of WellGen, a company seeking to be the premier expert in nutrigenomics.
Prior to joining WellGen, Mullinix advised investors on biotechnology and pharmaceutical business opportunities with her company Kathleen P. Mullinix & Associates, which she founded in 2002.
Before that, Mullinix served as the founder, chairman, CEO and president of Synaptic Pharmaceutical Corporation. There she led the company from its inception as she developed and implemented the company's strategies for scientific research, business and intellectual property, making it a research-driven public biotechnology company and then an emerging pharmaceutical company.
Before founding Synaptic Pharmaceutical, Mullinix served for six years as vice provost for Columbia University. In this role, she brought Columbia to a leadership position in the commercial development of university intellectual property assets. Additionally, she was instrumental in the development of The Audubon Research Park that has transformed the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center's Washington Heights neighborhood.
From 1972-1981, Mullinix held two positions with the National Institutes of Health, and served the organization by assisting with strategic matters involving the scientific direction of the NIH intramural program and implementing a novel research program in molecular biology.
Mullinix's comments are from a panel entitled "Exploring Business and Entrepreneurship in Life Sciences" and was hosted by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in April of 2008. Panelists included Lee Henderson, CEO and Chairman of Vybion, Kathleen Mullinix, CEO and President of WellGen and James Sigler, VP of Business Operations at Air Systems Technologies, Inc.
Kathleen Mullinix holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Trinity College, a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from Columbia University and was a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University.
James Sigler, VP of Business Operations at Air Systems Technologies, Inc. Sigler has over 22 years of management experience, including 17 years in the development, manufacturing, and quality management of biological, cell therapy, and small molecule products.
Prior to joining AST, Sigler was Vice President, Manufacturing, at RenaMed Biologics, Inc.; prior to that he was Vice President, Operations and Clinical Supply for Acceleron Pharma, Inc. Sigler was also Vice President, Manufacturing for Curis, Inc., and he was divisional head of manufacturing when Genzyme Corporation sought and received regulatory approval for Carticel, an autologous cell therapy product. He also spent five years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, serving as a nuclear propulsion-trained officer on board USS Enterprise.
James Sigler recieved his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his MBA degree from Harvard Business School.
R. Douglas Kahn is Chairman and CEO of Ahura Scientific. Kahn is an internationally recognized entrepreneur, who brings more than 25 years of executive management experience to Ahura. He has an extensive track record of leadership in high technology companies.
Prior to joining Ahura Corporation, Kahn was CEO and President of PanAmSat Corporation, a leading international provider of satellite-based communications services. Prior to PanAmSat, he served as Chairman and CEO of Easel Corporation, guiding this software company through three rounds of venture capital investment, a successful IPO and ten years of growth.
Doug Kahn holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University.
Donald Peskin has more than five years of management consulting experience and 20 years of Wall Street and investment experience including, most notably, as a Managing Director and Principal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ") where he served from 1988 to 1997. He is a three time recipient of the DLJ "Superachiever" award and is a member of the DLJ "Hall of Fame". At DLJ he was responsible for the Fixed Income Structured Finance Department and had selected responsibilities for various trading positions. Throughout his tenure at DLJ, Mr. Peskin was responsible for many significant innovations in the realm of structured products, some of which developed into multi-billion dollar markets. At DLJ he was frequently consulted by senior management regarding the structuring and valuation of complex securities.
Peskin's previous Wall Street experience included service at Dean Witter Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley & Co. He left DLJ in September 1997 to pursue private investment opportunities in finance, technology and related industries.
Donald Peskin is the founder of Short Hills Capital, LLC, a privately held investment vehicle. Short Hills Capital was a principal investor in Regions First Financial, a holding company with interests in the sub-prime auto marketplace, which were sold in 2004 to a public entity. Through Short Hills Capital, Mr. Peskin was a founding investor in Numismatic Funding, LLC a secured lender to rare coin dealers. In addition to his principal investment activities, Mr. Peskin has been a managing principal of Cognitive Capital Management, the general partner of the Cognitive Strategic Fund, a hedge fund of funds. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Ballard Petroleum LLC from 1997 until its acquisition by Alberta Energy Corp. in early 2001. He has been recently named to the Board of Directors of ioSemantics Corporation, a software firm that applies artificial intelligence to the management of large-scale software development.
Donald Peskin holds a BS with Honors, a Masters of Engineering in Operations Research and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Cornell University.
Robert Innes is a Professor of Agricultural Policy Analysis, Microeconomic Theory, Economics of Information and Risk and Environmental Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Arizona.
Robert Innes' research has focused on a variety of issues in microeconomic theory, industrial organization, finance, agricultural policy, environmental economics, and law. He has received the Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation (1987), Quality of Research Discovery (1994, 1999), and Distinguished Policy Contribution awards from the Agricultural Agricultural Economics Association, the Best Published Research Award (1999) from the Western Agricultural Economics Association, and the Hicks-Tinbergen Medal for outstanding research from the European Economic Association (1994).
Innes has also served on the faculty University of California (Davis) and as Senior Economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers, where he developed and advanced a range of farm policy reforms ultimately proposed by the Clinton Administration for enactment in the 1996 Farm Bill.
Robert Innes received his BA, MBA and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley.
Daniel R. Hesse has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Sprint Nextel Corporation since December 18, 2007. Hesse is responsible for leading the $6 billion division that provides wireline and wireless voice, data and video services to nearly 8 million customers in 18 states.
Hesse was Chairman of the Board of Embarq Corporation from May 2, 2006 to December 18, 2007 and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer until December 18, 2007. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Sprint Nextel's local telecommunications division from June 2005 to May 2006.
Hesse served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Terabeam Corporation, a telecommunications company, from March 2000 to June 2004, when Terabeam merged with YDI Wireless to form Terabeam Wireless. From 1997 to 2000, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Wireless Services and served as its Executive Vice President. Prior to that, he served as General Manager for the AT&T Online Services Group and President and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Network Systems International. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Local Telecommunications Division of Sprint Corporation PCS Group and Sprint Corporation FON Group from June 7, 2005 to May 17, 2006.
Daniel Hesse holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University.
Luis Machuca is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Kryptiq Corporation, the leading provider of next generation connectivity solutions for healthcare.
From 1981-1996, Machuca held various positions at Intel Corp before becoming co-GM of the OEM Products & Services Division where he established Intel as the #1 motherboard supplier in the world.
In 1996 he became the EVP of the NEC Computer Services Division of PB-NEC Corp. In 1999, Machuca joined eFusion Corp. as President and COO and subsequently merged the company with ITXC.
Luis Machuca received his BSEE in 1980 and MSIE in 1981 both from Purdue University.