Juan Ramón Alaix is the former Chief Executive Officer of Zoetis. During his seven-year tenure as CEO, Zoetis became the global leader in animal health, with $5.8 billion in revenue in 2018, a market capitalization of nearly $60 billion, and several groundbreaking new medicines ranked among the top products in the animal health industry. Mr. Alaix remains a member of the Zoetis Board of Directors and serves as an advisor to the company. 

Mr. Alaix has 35 years’ experience of increasing responsibility in finance, sales and management, including 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Zoetis, he served as President of Pfizer Animal Health, where he was responsible for the overall strategic direct​ion and financial performance of the company beginning in 2006. He joined Pfizer from Pharmacia in 2003 as regional president. In the 1990s, he served in general management with Rhône-Poulenc Rorer in Spain and Belgium before becoming country president of Spain for Pharmacia in 1998.

Mr. Alaix has served as President of the International Federation for Animal Health (IFAH), now known as HealthforAnimals from 2011-2013, in addition to serving as a member of the board and executive committee. HealthforAnimals represents manufacturers of veterinary medicines, vaccines and other animal health products in both developed and emerging markets. In 2018, he was awarded the Deming Cup for Operational Excellence from the Columbia Business School for his achievements as CEO of Zoetis.

A native of Spain, Mr. Alaix received a graduate degree in economics from the Universidad de Madrid. Areas of interest: Healthcare, management, strategic plan and budget, capital allocation, IPO, shareholder activism, corporate governance.

Gary B. Appel ’77 has spent over 40 years in the financial services industry. Currently he serves on the Advisory Board of the Private Equity Program at Columbia Business School. Mr. Appel is an Advisory Director and member of the Investment Committee of Investcorp International Inc., a global manager of alternative investment products. He retired in 2012 as Vice Chairman of Castle Harlan, Inc., a global middle market private equity funds manager. Prior to joining Castle Harlan, he was Vice Chairman of Glencoe Capital, Ltd., a Chicago-based middle market private equity funds manager, and a member of its Investment Committee. While at Glencoe he co-founded and managed one of the first independent co-investment funds created for a state retirement system. In the late 1990s Mr. Appel was a Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns, Inc. Prior to that for 17 years, Mr. Appel was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. serving as a Managing Director and a founding partner of DLJ Merchant Banking. He was a member of DLJ Merchant Banking’s Board of Directors and its Investment Committee. Mr. Appel has served on the boards of directors of numerous corporations across a variety of industries, as well as several not-for-profit institutions. His current board of directors activities include totes»Isotoner Corporation and Arrowhead Engineered Products, Inc. He earned his BA with honors from Vassar College and his MBA from Columbia University. Areas of interest: private equity, entrepreneurship and investment banking.

Ciara Burnham is a financial services executive, board director, and in-vestor with three decades of experience across the industry. Ciara serves on the boards of several financial services and fintech companies, and also works with nonprofit organizations focused on ESG, social im-pact, and education.

Ciara spent two decades as a senior managing director with Evercore, the global investment bank, where she worked across both the invest-ment banking and investment management businesses. Ciara joined Evercore shortly after its inception and played a significant leadership role in the build-out of the firm’s presence on a global basis. She has worked with early stage fintech companies as a senior advisor and part-ner with QED, a leading venture capital firm. Earlier in her career, Ciara was an equity research analyst with Sanford Bernstein and a consultant with McKinsey.

Ciara received an AB cum laude from Princeton University and an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School. She serves as chair of the board of trustees for EDC, a leading nonprofit working globally in educa-tion, health care, and economic opportunity. Ciara is a member of the advisory boards of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise and the Pro-gram for Financial Studies at Columbia Business School, and the Dean's advisory council of Princeton University.

Barbara Byrne is former Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Barclays PLC and at Lehman Brothers, the first woman to be named Vice Chairman at either firm. Barbara started her investment banking career in Lehman Brothers’ Energy Group, following four years at Mobil Corporation and expanded her client base to advising companies from diverse industries in rapidly changing market and technology environments. In addition to holding senior leadership positions in both the Energy and Technology Investment Banking Groups, Barbara Co- Chaired Barclays Senior Client Coverage Council charged with identifying and driving best in class client centered effective coverage and solutions.

Barbara is a trusted advisor to leaders of global companies and organizations. Over the course of her career, Barbara built client partnerships with leading global companies in the energy, technology and consumer industrial industries. Barbara’s judgment has been sought by CEOs and corporate boards as she led teams which pioneered unique financial and team approaches to strategic corporate challenges. These engagements resulted in many “first of its kind” financings and transactions that enhanced both her clients’ and her Firm’s competitive position and value. Barbara values transparent communication to build high integrity, resilient, impactful partnerships to achieve strategic goals for organizations and their stakeholders.

While at Barclays, Barbara led a number of initiatives targeted at social impact and partnerships of NGOs, Governments and clients to invest commercial solutions to social challenges. She led Barclays engagement with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where she was a member of the Gender Parity Task Force.

Barbara is a director of ViacomCBS Corporation (Chair of the Audit Committee) and is a trustee of the Institute of International Education. She is a former member of the British American Business Council, New York City Board (2013-2017), and of the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley (2006-2016). She is also a Lifetime Member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

American Banker named Barbara in the top 5 of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Finance” for 8 consecutive years through 2017. She received American Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Finance in October 2018. Barbara is a frequent keynote speaker at events and forums including The World Bank, The United Nations, The New America Foundation and The World Economic Forum in Davos and New York (on the Gender Initiative) in addition to guest market commentary for Bloomberg and CNBC.

Barbara attended Mount Holyoke College as a first-generation scholarship student from neighboring Holyoke, Massachusetts. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics. Barbara’s first job was taking thorns off roses at her aunt and uncles’ flower shop. There are days where this skill serves her well in her personal and professional life. Barbara met her husband Tom at a Williams College Club Party in New York City. Neither went to Williams, but both had heard that the Club threw good parties. 

Alessandro Carlucci has spent 25 years in the cosmetics industry. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of CBS’ Deming Center/ECLA Advisory Board. He worked for Natura Cosmetics for 25 years, the last 10 as its CEO. In the early 90s Alessandro assumed executive positions in Relationship Marketing shortly before assuming the role of Product Marketing Manager, becoming the leader for Hair and Perfume categories. In 1996, he became the Commercial Director for Brazil, leading the sales area with 500 employees and 350.000 independent resellers. He transferred to Buenos Aires in 1999 to become Director of the South Division, leading the Natura International operations (Argentina, Chile and Peru) with the challenge to develop and implement a turnaround plan that started with Argentina. Returning to Brazil in mid-2002, he assumed the role of Commercial Vice-President, leading all Natura commercial operations. A year later he became the Business Vice President in charge of most of the company P&L. At the end of 2004, he participated actively in the company’s IPO, and in January of 2005 was invited to become CEO, a role he played until the end of 2014. During his tenure as CEO, Natura’s net income grew fourfold, from R$ 1.7 billion to R$ 7 billion, becoming the biggest CFT and Direct Selling company in Brazil. The International business grew quickly (CAGR 35%), with the opening of Mexico and Colombia operations. EBITDA increased from R$ 431 million to R$ 1.6 billion, and in 2009 he lead a Follow On, increasing the company’s float from 25% to 40%. The company has been "carbon neutral" since 2007 and reached the goal of 33% reduction of CO2 emissions between 2007 and 2013, and has been recognized as one of the most sustainable companies in the world. Alessandro is a Board Member of Lojas Renner (fashion retailer in Brazil), and is Chairman of the Board for Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). He has previously been Chairman of the World Direct Selling Association (WFDSA), a Board Member of Redecard, Itaú-Unibanco and of the Alcoa Advisory Board (Latin America). Alessandro holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), an Executive MBA from PDG/SDE Escola de Negócios, and also took part in a joint STC Executive program with Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC) and the Kellogg School of Management. Areas of interest: consumer goods, Latin America, sustainability, cosmetics, direct selling, leadership.

Victor Crawford is the chief executive officer of the Pharmaceutical segment at Cardinal Health. This segment distributes brand and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. In addition, the Pharmaceutical segment provides services to support the development of these products to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers across the country.

Crawford came to Cardinal Health with a wide range of experience at some of the world’s most respected companies. His most recent role was at Aramark, where he was chief operating officer for Healthcare, Education and Business Dining.

Before joining Aramark in 2012, Crawford served as president of field operations at Pepsi Beverages Company and guided the field leadership team in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He initially joined the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company in 1990, working in a variety of roles in finance and sales before being appointed to vice president and general manager of the greater Chicago division of Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers, Inc. in 1998.

Crawford also worked as a senior vice president of Marriott Distribution Services and was named chief operations officer for the Eastern region of Marriott International. His career began with roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Federal-Mogul Corporation.

Crawford serves on the board of directors for The Hershey Company, the National Urban League, Thomas Jefferson University, and the Jefferson Health Advisory Board. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston College.
 

Toos N. Daruvala is co-CEO of MIO Partners, the in house asset management arm of McKinsey & Company. He joined McKinsey in 1983; he was elected a Director (Senior Partner) in 1995; and he retired from the Firm in 2015. Toos has counseled CEOs and senior executives at a range of financial institutions and information/transaction services players on strategy and operational matters. Over his years at McKinsey, Toos led the Americas Risk Management Practice, the Americas Banking and Securities Practice, and the build-out of McKinsey’s global Risk Advanced Analytics capability. Toos served on the global Board of McKinsey and the Advisory Board of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). He led McKinsey’s Annual Review of the state of the banking industry. He has contributed to publications such as The Economist and Banking Strategies, and was a frequent speaker at financial industry forums. Toos currently serves on the board of the Royal Bank of Canada (RY), and previously served on the board of MIO Partners. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is Executive-in-Residence at the Columbia Business School. Toos is a member of the Board of the New York Philharmonic. Toos holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award). Areas of interest: strategy, organization; consulting; leadership of financial institutions.

Robert Essner is the retired chairman and CEO of Wyeth, which was one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical companies. He led the transformation of Wyeth into a science-based industry leader with strong positions in drugs, biotechnology, vaccines, nonprescription products and animal health. During his more than 30 years in the industry, Mr. Essner served as chairman of both U.S. and global pharmaceutical organizations. He is a director of MassMutual, NBTY, PPDI, Amicus Therapeutics, and the Children's Health Fund, and is a Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group. Mr. Essner is a graduate of Miami University and the University of Chicago. Areas of interest: general management, marketing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology.

Neale S. Godfrey is is an acknowledged expert on family and children’s finances who has been in the financial field for more than 30 years. Neale became one of the first female executives at The Chase Manhattan Bank. Later, she became the President of The First Women’s Bank and founder of The First Children’s Bank. In 1989, Neale formed her own company, Children’s Financial Network, Inc., whose mission is to educate children and their parents about money. She is the author of 27 books that deal with money, life skills, and value issues, and has been honored with a #1 New York Times Best Seller, Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children. Neale was the first to develop money curricula for children and young adults Pre-K through High School, which are available in CD-ROM and iOS game app formats. Neale was also a former Nationally Syndicated Columnist for the Associated Press and currently is a Contributor for Forbes.com.

Neale has served as a National Spokesperson for such companies as: Aetna, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Fidelity, Quaker Oats, Nuveen and AOL-Time Warner. She is a professional speaker for both domestic and international audiences. Neale has appeared as a financial expert on programs, such as; The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNBC, and CNN, as well as in the PBS special Your Money, Your Children, Your Life.

Neale has served on White House and Governor’s Task Forces, as well as on the Board of Directors of The NY Board of Trade, UNICEF, University of Charleston, Morris County Chamber of Commerce, UN Women, and YPO.  She also serves on NJ’s State Employment and Training Commission Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education as well as NJ’s Science and Technology Workforce Subcommittee. Neale helped found a YPO global entity called RISE, an international social and ecological movement and incorporated into WorldMerit (WM). WM connects Millennials in 160 countries to address global issues. She is also a faculty member of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) and VWise, Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, operated by The Institute For Veterans and Military Families, The Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. Both programs provide tools to Vets to become successful entrepreneurs. Neale has been honored with recognition from the White House via her program, LIFE, INC: The Ultimate Career Guide for Young People, sponsored by Deloitte Foundation. Neale has a B.S., cum laude, from The School of International Service, The American University. Areas of interest: entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, writing/publishing.

Jesse J. Greene, Jr. retired from IBM as VP Financial Management and Chief Financial Risk Officer in 2010. There he was responsible for the identification, assessment and monitoring of financial risks of the corporation, and the company's Enterprise Risk Management program. Mr. Greene began his career at IBM in 1971, and has held a broad range of positions in IBM as an engineer, tax attorney, and financial executive. In 1994, Mr. Greene left IBM to join Eastman Kodak as Treasurer, VP Finance, acting CFO and Senior VP, Strategy and Information Technology. In 2000, he joined Compaq Computer Corporation as CFO and Senior VP of Strategic Planning. In 2002 he returned to IBM as VP and Treasurer and was later named VP, Financial Management and Chief Financial Risk Officer. Mr. Greene graduated from Columbia Law School with a JD and Columbia Business School with an MBA. He also holds an MSME and BSME from NYU School of Engineering and Science. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Economic Club of New York, and has also served on the Board of Directors of the Strong Medical Center in Rochester, NY. He served as Senior Fellow at the Richman Center from 2011 to May of 2018, and recently retired from the Board of Directors of Caterpillar. Areas of interest: U.S. tax and energy policy, corporate governance and strategy, risk management, education and development of leadership skills in young people.

Stephen Harty has 23 years of C-level experience in two very different industries. He's now focused on assisting both private sector and non-profit organizations with strategic and communications issues and his role as an Adjunct professor of management at CBS. Most recently Steve was CEO and Vice Chairman of National Flood Services in Kalispell MT. On his watch, the firm acquired its biggest competitor and dealt with the overwhelming disaster of Superstorm Sandy. Prior to flood insurance,  Steve spent 30 years in advertising, most recently as Chairman for North America at BBH, a leading British advertising network, where he worked with clients such as Google, Unilever, British Airways, Cadillac and Miller Lite and participated in the launch of the Ally online bank. He joined BBH from the Plus Consulting Group in New York, where he founded and managed a consultancy designed to integrate the global offerings of the advertising agency Lowe with the direct marketing company Draft. In 1993 he was a co-founder of Merkley Newman Harty, one of the first internally integrated firms on Madison Avenue.  During nine years as President, MNH grew from 30 to 300 people serving clients such as Citigroup, IBM, Pfizer, BellSouth and Mercedes-Benz. The agency notably launched the startup airline JetBlue, developing name, positioning, visual identity and all other aspects of marketing. Steve began his advertising career with Ogilvy & Mather where he started as a trainee, was named the agency’s youngest General Manager and later was appointed Worldwide Account Director for American Express, responsible for the brand in 42 countries. Steve took a one-year leave of absence in 1983 when selected as a White House Fellow, where he served as Special Assistant to the Director of the FBI. He graduated from Williams College in 1973 and recently stepped down after twelve years as a Williams trustee. Steve earned an MPPM in 1980 from the Yale School of Management and later served as an Advisor for the Yale Center for Consumer Insight. Areas of interest: changing careers, advertising, brands, media, the federal government, fostering new ideas and the management of creative enterprises.

**Katherine Hensel is currently on sabbatical. Please contact Ben Koch ([email protected]) if you have questions.**

Katherine Hensel is a retired hedge fund manager, institutional investor, and financial services industry executive. As a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, she gained international prominence as the youngest ever functional Chief Investment Officer of a major Wall Street firm. After helming Lehman Brothers’ Financial Institutions Group to an industry-best performance through the early 1990s credit crisis and recovery, Ms. Hensel became the storied bank’s top strategist, co-head of the investment policy committee and one of its most recognizable leaders in the press through the 1994 spin-off from American Express and successful IPO. Ms. Hensel was a commercial banks analyst at Lehman from 1987 to 1993 during which time she was ranked number one on Greenwich and Institutional Investor surveys. Later in the decade, Ms. Hensel, as Director of Research, helped lead Chancellor Capital Management ($80 billion AUM) through a pair of disruptive mergers before striking out on her own in 1999. She and her partner built Sage Asset Management from scratch to more than $1 billion in assets under management within five years. Ms. Hensel outperformed the S&P over her tenure, while taking less than half of the market risk. She successfully piloted Sage Asset Management through the 2008 Global Financial Crisis—effectively maneuvering the firm to rally into 2009. She formally retired as Managing Partner in 2010, continuing as a Senior Advisor until 2015, while also managing a private family office and providing strategic thought partnership to alternative asset management CEOs. Ms. Hensel is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, a member of the Investor Advisory Committee of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the New York Society of Securities Analysts and the Financial Women's Association. As an award-winning analyst and institutional investor, Ms. Hensel covered a range of sectors on both the growth and value side, including consumer, industrial, financial, selected sub-sectors of healthcare, and others. She began her career in the Energy practices of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, PaineWebber and Lehman Brothers. Ms. Hensel earned an AB in Geological Sciences (1981) and an MBA (1985), both from Harvard University. Areas of interest: investment management and capital markets, corporate governance - shareholder engagement and activism, securities analysis, corporate finance, leadership and career development.

M. Leanne Lachman is president of Lachman Associates, an independent real estate consulting company. Previously, Ms. Lachman spent 13 years as a partner at Schroder Real Estate Associates, a boutique real estate manager that was acquired by Lend Lease, a global institutional investment manager, where she spent four years. Her early career was with Real Estate Research Corporation, where she served as chief executive officer. A highly sought after speaker and widely published author of books and articles on the real estate industry, Ms. Lachman is also a Key Leader of the Urban Land Institute and a Governor of the Urban Land Foundation, and a director of Lincoln National Corporation. She received her BA from the University of Southern California and her MA from Claremont Graduate University. Areas of interest: real estate, demographics (U.S. and global trends), and corporate governance.

Terry J. Lundgren served for 14 years as CEO of Macy’s, Inc., operator of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bluemercury and one of the largest retail ecommerce businesses in America.  He retired from Macy’s, Inc. in January 2018 after serving for 10 months as the company’s Executive Chairman. Prior to becoming CEO of the company in February 2003 and Chairman and CEO in January 2004, Lundgren had been President and Chief Merchandising Officer since May 1997. (The company’s name changed to Macy’s, Inc. from Federated Department Stores, Inc. in 2007.) As CEO, Lundgren led Federated’s acquisition of The May Department Stores Company in August 2005, nearly doubling the size of the company. One year later, he changed the name of more than 400 regional department stores across the country to the Macy’s name, creating a nationwide brand and the largest fashion retail company in America. In fiscal 2016, the final years of Lundgren’s tenure as CEO, Macy’s, Inc. sales approached $26 billion, with approximately 140,000 employees.  The company operated approximately 575 department stores under the nameplates Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, and approximately 150 specialty stores that include Bluemercury, Bloomingdale’s The Outlet and Macy’s Backstage, in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com. Bloomingdale’s has store locations in the Middle East in partnership with the Al Tayer Group and Macy’s has an on-line presence in China on Alibaba’s TMall global e-commerce platform. Prior to joining Federated, Lundgren was Chairman, CEO of Neiman Marcus. Lundgren is a native of Long Beach, CA, a graduate of The University of Arizona, and an active supporter of The Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at The University of Arizona.  He has honorary doctorate degrees from The University of Arizona and Suffolk University. Lundgren currently serves on the boards of The Procter & Gamble Company, Carnegie Hall and The Economic Club of New York. He is a former board member of Kraft Foods Inc., the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has participated in numerous charitable and civic efforts and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his leadership in the Fashion Retail industries as well as for his civic and charitable contributions. He has served as co-chairman of the Partnership for New York City and the American Heart Association CEO Roundtable, and chairman of the National Retail Federation (twice), National Minority Supplier Development Council, and the American Society of Corporate Executives. Areas of interest: economics, leadership, fashion, art.

Douglas L. Maine is a Senior Advisor to Brown Brothers Harriman & Co, a 200-year-old, privately held, Wall Street financial services firm. Maine is the Lead Director for public company Acreage Holdings (Cannabis). Maine is also a Director of five private companies: Olympusat (Cable Content and Distribution), Veea (Edge Computing), UPL (Natural Gas Distributor), Chime Solutions (BPO)  and GlobeIn (On-line marketplace). He has previously served on the Board of four public and seven private companies which were all acquired by strategic or financial investors. Maine joined IBM as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President in 1998. In that role, he was responsible for all financial, treasury, tax, business development, internal audit, and real estate activities, as well as IBM Global Financing Corporation. He later was General Manager of two operating units and retired in 2005.

Before joining IBM, Maine was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of MCI (now part of Verizon) from 1991-1998 and prior to that, he held a variety of sales, operating, and financial leadership roles during his 20-year career. Maine is a former two-term member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which is the Federal Regulator of the Auditing profession.  He has a BS from Temple University and an MBA from Hofstra University where he is Chairman of the Dean's Advisory Council.   

Areas of interest: technology, entrepreneurship, private equity, international business and family-owned businesses.

Eduardo Mestre is a Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Global Advisory at Evercore. Eduardo was responsible for the day to day management of the firm’s U.S. advisory practice from 2004-2012, and prior to joining Evercore in November 2004, he was Vice Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. and Chairman of its Investment Banking Division. Eduardo was head of investment banking at Citigroup and its predecessor firms from 1995-2001 and co-head of Salomon Brothers’ mergers and acquisitions department from 1989-1995. Since joining Evercore, Eduardo has represented, among others, Comcast in its acquisition of Sky, Pinnacle Foods in its sale to Conagra, Whole Foods in its sale to Amazon, DuPont in its merger with Dow Chemical, its spin-off of Performance Chemicals and its proxy fight with Trian Fund Management; Estee Lauder in its acquisition of Too Faced; United Airlines in its defense against activist investors; EMC in its sale to Dell; MGM Resorts International in its threatened proxy contest with L&B, the IPO of its REIT subsidiary and its financial restructuring; Ally Financial in the restructuring of its mortgage business and the sale of its international operations to Royal Bank of Canada and GM Financial; Clearwire in its sale to Sprint; and International Paper in its acquisition of Weyerhauser’s pulp business and of Temple Inland and the subsequent sale of certain assets.  Eduardo currently serves on the board of directors of the Avis Budget Group, Inc. and is a past member of the board of Comcast Corporation. He also serves as a member of the boards of the International Rescue Committee and the Cuba Study Group. He is past Chairman of the Board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, one of the nation’s leading cancer, genetics and neuroscience research and educational institutions, and past Chairman of WNYC, New York’s public radio stations. He is also a past trustee of The Taft School. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers in 1977, Eduardo was an associate with the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Eduardo graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1970 with a BA degree in Economics and Political Science and is a 1973 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. Eduardo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1949. Areas of interest: mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructurings, shareholder activism and corporate governance, corporate finance, negotiation, strategic alliances.

Surya N. Mohapatra, Ph.D., has held senior leadership positions in the healthcare industry for more than 35 years, most recently as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, a world leader in diagnostic testing, information and services where he had been a senior executive from 1999 to 2012. He has been a strong advocate of patient empowerment and accountability to improve healthcare and reduce costs. Prior to joining Quest Diagnostics, he served as Senior Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee of Picker International, now part of Philips Medical Systems, where he played an important role in the design, manufacture and commercialization of Magnetic Resonance Imaging during his 19 year tenure.

Dr. Mohapatra is a past Board Member of the ITT Corporation and was the founding Chairman of HCL Healthcare India Pvt Ltd. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Xylem Inc., a leading global water technology and transport company. He is also a Board Member of Leidos Inc., a science and technology solutions leader in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and healthcare sectors. Dr. Mohapatra is active in a number of not for profit institutions. He is a Trustee of the Rockefeller University and an Executive in Residence at the Columbia Business School. He is also a Board Member of Malaria No More, a nonprofit organization that aims to end deaths caused by malaria; and Safe Water Networks that promotes social entrepreneurship to provide safe, affordable water to people in need.

Dr. Mohapatra received B.Sc.Eng. in Electrical Engineering in 1971 from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India and was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011. He holds a Master of Science in Medical Electronics from the University of Salford, England; and a Doctorate in Medical Physics, 1977, from the University of London and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He is the author of several publications and patents including the book “Noninvasive Cardiovascular Monitoring by Electrical Impedance Technique”. Areas of interest: strategy, technology, healthcare industry, global health, international business.

Joyce Roché is the author of The Empress Has No Clothes…Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success and was President and CEO of Girls Inc., a national nonprofit research, education and advocacy organization, until her retirement in 2010.

Before joining Girls Inc., Ms. Roché served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Carson Products Company and Vice President of Global Marketing at Avon Products, Inc. While at Avon, Ms. Roché broke new ground, becoming Avon’s first African American female vice president, the first African American vice president of marketing, and the company’s first vice president of global marketing.

Ms. Roché has received widespread acclaim for her achievements in the business world: Fortune featured her on its cover; Black Enterprise named Roché one of the “21 Women of Power and Influence in Corporate America” and one of the “40 Most Powerful Black Executives.” Ms. Roché received the Women of Power Legacy Award from Black Enterprise Magazine in 2006, and The Financial Times selected her as an Outstanding Corporate Director in 2014. She received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Columbia University Women in Business and the Presidential Medal of Honor from Dillard University.

In 2013 Ms. Roché published The Empress Has No Clothes…Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success (Berrett-Koehler), a business memoir in which she shares her lifelong struggle with the imposter syndrome and offers advice and coping strategies based on her own experiences and those of other high-achieving leaders.

Ms. Roché is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans and holds an MBA from Columbia University. She has successfully completed Stanford University’s Senior Executive Program and holds honorary doctorate degrees from several institutions, including Dillard University, Bryant University, and Old Dominion College. 

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Macy’s Inc., the Chatham County Hospital Authority, The Savannah Economic Development Authority and The Savannah Trade Center. Ms. Roché previously served on the boards of AT&T Inc., Anheuser-Busch Companies, May Department Stores, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Tupperware Brands Corporation and Girls Incorporated.

Ms. Roché is the former Vice Chair of the board of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Dillard University, where she is now Trustee Emerita.

Stacy Ruchlamer has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry, focusing on the consumer sector. She was the Specialty Retail Analyst at Shearson Lehman Brothers from 1984 to 1993, and was ranked #1 on Institutional Investor's “All American Research Team” each year from 1988 to 1992, among the youngest analysts to ever achieve this award. She was also listed on Crain's 40 under 40. Known as a stock picker, Stacy was lauded for getting her Institutional Investor clients into winning stocks as well as advising them on getting out. She developed a consumer franchise, working on a multitude of investment banking transactions as well as managing money for the firm. She served on the Board of Directors of Stein Mart, Inc., The Icing and New West Eyeworks. In 1993, Stacy founded and served as General Partner of The Consumer Fund, one of the early sector hedge funds. She successfully managed the fund for 8 years while simultaneously advising two large hedge funds. Over the last decade, Stacy has consulted for private consumer companies on strategy, growth initiatives and capital raising. Throughout her career, she has been active in the non-profit arena, spearheading programs to improve literacy in children and instill a love of reading. Stacy is a graduate of Union College. She and her husband Antoine have three children. Areas of interest: Social Responsibility and Business Strategy, Brand Development, Women and Leadership.

Josh Sapan is Executive Vice Chairman of AMC Networks, the global entertainment company behind the popular streaming services AMC+, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, Shudder and Sundance Now; several leading television networks AMC, BBC AMERICA, IFC, SundanceTV, and WE tv; film distribution label IFC Films; television production and worldwide content distribution division AMC Studios; and AMC Networks International, the company’s international channels business.

Named CEO in 1995 and Executive Vice Chairman in 2021, Sapan led the company’s successful spin-off from Cablevision Systems Corporation in June 2011, when AMC Networks began trading as a separate public company on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

During his tenure, Sapan evolved the business from a collection of U.S. cable channels showcasing classic movies to what is today a company known for acclaimed and popular original content.  He is credited with building some of television’s most influential entertainment shows, including AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Better Call Saul;” BBC AMERICA’s “Killing Eve”; IFC’s “Portlandia” and “Documentary Now!;” and SundanceTV’s “Rectify” and “Top of the Lake.”

A champion of new voices, Sapan has brought independent film to wide audiences through IFC Films, with successes including the award-winning films Boyhood, The Death of Stalin, Boys Don’t Cry and Y Tu Mamá También. In 2005, Sapan opened the IFC Center, the brick and mortar home for the brand and to DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the United States.

Sapan moved the company into the targeted streaming business with the launches of prestige drama and documentary streaming service Sundance Now in 2014 and the horror-centric Shudder in 2015; the 2018 acquisition of the British-focused Acorn TV and the Black TV and film service ALLBLK; and the 2020 launch of AMC+. The success of these services now makes the company a leader in the targeted streaming business.

Sapan has received a wide range of honors including the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, NATPE’s Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, the Paley Prize for Innovation and Excellence, and The Media Institute’s Freedom of Speech Award, for his contributions to the advancement and protection of free speech.

Sapan serves on the boards of The American Film Institute, The Paley Center for Media, the Museum of the Moving Image, New York Public Radio and The New School.

He is the author of the “The Big Picture: America in Panorama” and the forthcoming “Third Act,” both from Princeton Architectural Press.

Scott E. Shapiro '99 is the Managing Director of Eagle Rock Ventures LLC and President of ERV Realty Inc. Before returning to his home state of Washington from New York, Scott was with Related Urban Development (formerly The Palladium Company) and Related Lodging Group, real estate development affiliates of The Related Companies, L.P. Prior to that, Scott co-founded Cityfeet, a leading online commercial real estate network that was sold to LoopNet.

While in business school, Scott was a financial analyst at MAX Capital Management Corporation, handling real estate acquisitions and financings. He was also a summer associate at Paine Webber Real Estate Securities, providing principal lending and investments for opportunity funds and other real estate clients.

Before attending graduate school, Scott worked in Washington, DC, conducting property management and marketing at The JBG Companies, management and strategic consulting with KPMG, and government affairs and policy analysis with Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds. Scott received his BA with honors in government and American studies from Wesleyan University and his MBA in real estate and finance from Columbia Business School where he currently serves as an Executive in Residence.

Len Sherman brings over thirty years of business experience and academic research on growth strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship to Columbia Business School. At CBS, Professor Sherman teaches “Strategy for Long-Term Growth” and "Entrepreneurship in Large Enterprises to MBA and EMBA students, earning the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013.

Prior to teaching at Columbia, Dr. Sherman was a Senior Partner at Accenture, where he served in a variety of positions including President of two Business Process Outsourcing units: Accenture Procurement Solutions and Accenture Learning. At Accenture, he also served as a founding General Partner of Accenture Technology Ventures, where he led Accenture's investment activities in Supply Chain Management, 
Procurement and eLearning. He sat on the Boards of Directors of five technology-based firms. Prior to these positions Dr. Sherman also led Accenture's Global Strategic Services Practice covering client services in the Automotive & Industrial Equipment, Transportation & Travel Services, Food & Consumer Package Goods, Retail and Pharmaceuticals/Medical Products industries. 

Dr. Sherman joined Accenture in 1995 from J. D. Power and Associates where he had been managing partner of the firm's management consulting practice and responsible for European business operations. Prior to that, he was a partner with Booz, Allen & Hamilton with responsibility for its U.S. automotive practice. Prior to joining Columbia, Professor Sherman taught "Innovation and Enterprise Growth" in Northeastern University's MBA program. He has published and presented widely on automotive marketing and distribution strategy, customer satisfaction measurement and effective approaches to corporate education.

Since joining CBS, Sherman has authored case studies in the automotive, retail, consumer packaged goods and hard goods industries. His book on growth strategy – If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat!: Strategies for Long-Term Growth – was published in 2017 by Columbia University Press.  Sherman frequently writes articles on a range of business strategy issues in Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, and has be contributed expert commentary to The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and other business publications.

Dr. Sherman has a BS in aeronautical engineering, a MS in transportation systems and a Ph.D. in transportation economics, all from M.I.T.

Joseph H. Timko’s career has been focused on consulting, B2B technology, and software. He is a former partner of McKinsey and Company and served as Chief Strategy Officer of ADP, a leading human capital software and services company. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President & Chief Technology & Strategy Officer for Pitney Bowes.

He currently serves on the boards of PlanetiQ, a weather satellite company, VUV Analytics, a gas chromatography company, and BrightVolt, a battery technology company.  He is Board Chair of Navicore Solutions, a consumer-debt counseling non-profit.  He is an Executive in Residence and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School where he teaches courses on decision making and consulting.  He received the 2022 Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

His consulting work focused on Technology/Telecom and Industrial Sectors. He led engagements in business strategy, B2B marketing and sales, business development and M&A, turnarounds, and large scale operational transformation. Early in his career, Joe was a product manager and R&D leader for Bell Laboratories for over a decade where he delivered software/hardware products to telecommunications service provider customers.

Joe received an MBA from The Wharton School as a Palmer Scholar. He also received a Master of Science degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science from Virginia Tech, both in computer and electrical engineering.

Areas of interest: technology and software, operational transformation, people development, decision making and behavioral economics.

Peter Tollman '89 is Senior Partner Emeritus at Boston Consulting Group. He's also Senior Advisor to the firm and, previously, was Managing Director and Senior Partner in the firm's Boston office. He led BCG's CEO Advisory Practice globally, served as global leader of BCG’s Biopharmaceutical Practice, and led its People and Organization Practice in the Americas.  He was also a BCG Fellow, a prestigious thought-leadership post.

Over the course of his consulting career, Peter has served many leading firms across industries and around the globe and has counseled numerous CEOs.  He specialized in strategy and organizational and operational effectiveness and has advised on numerous corporate transformations, restructurings and mergers.

Peter has authored a large number of publications, and has been a featured speaker at many corporate and industry events. He coauthored the book Six Simple Rules: How to Manage Complexity without Getting Complicated, detailing the transformational approach to improving organizational performance that he helped to pioneer.

Peter joined BCG in 1989. He was also founding managing director of a healthcare venture capital firm, MPM Capital. He is a board member of Tech Care for All and sits on the Board of Governors of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance at the Hebrew University. He is an Operating Advisory Board Member at BV Investments and a Special Advisor to Anzu Partners. 

Peter received his PhD in engineering from the University of Cape Town, and his MBA with distinction from Columbia Business School, class of '89.

Mark A. Zurack teaches Capital Markets and Investments, Equity Derivatives and Equity Markets and Products at Columbia Business School, and also teaches at Cornell University as an Adjunct Professor. Mark is currently on the Board of Directors of the Binghamton University Foundation and also serves on the Boards of the Alzheimer's Association, Teach For America, Upper West Success Academy, ETC, Southampton Bath and Tennis and the Columbia Business School Social Enterprise Program. Prior to coming to Columbia, Professor Zurack worked at Goldman Sachs for 18 years. He joined GS in 1983 and started the equity derivatives research group. He later assumed a broader leadership role in equity derivatives, co-managing the product in both North America and Asia and leading the effort to cross-market equity derivatives products to high-net-worth individuals. He became a partner in 1994 and a managing director in 1996. Between 1998 and 2001, Professor Zurack served on the board of directors at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He received his CFA in 1983, his MBA from Cornell in 1980 and his BS from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1978. Areas of interest: capital markets, sales and trading issues, portfolio construction, risk management and quantitative research.