DEVICE - Key Persons

Aida Habtezion

Job Titles:

Chief Medical Officer and Head of Worldwide Medical & Safety, Pfizer Inc
Chief Medical Officer of Pfizer

As Chief Medical Officer of Pfizer, Aida Habtezion leads Pfizer's Worldwide Medical & Safety organization responsible for ensuring that patients, physicians, and regulatory agencies are provided with information on the safe and appropriate use of Pfizer medications. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Habtezion was a practicing physician and scientist at Stanford University's School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is board certified in Gastroenterology in both Canada and the United States. She led a large translation research lab funded by multiple NIH, DOD, and foundation grants focused on understanding disease mechanisms and identifying potential immune-based therapeutic targets for pancreatic and intestinal inflammatory diseases and their long term complications such as cancer. Her research also included understanding the effect of environmental factors such as cigarette smoke and interaction of immune-enteric nervous system in GI motility disorders. She also served as an Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a faculty member in Stanford's Immunology Ph.D. program, Neuroscience Institute, Cancer Institute, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, interdisciplinary biosciences institute Bio-X, and faculty fellow at Stanford's ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health). Dr. Habtezion served in several national and international study sections, including six years in NIH study section, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Research Awards and AGA Research Policy Committee. Dr. Habtezion is the recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Award, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Teaching Award, the Immunology Faculty Mentor of the Year, and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Synergy Award. She is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association, an Allen Distinguished Investigator, elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP). She currently serves in The New York Academy of Sciences Board of Governors, as Executive Board member for the International Science Reserve, and is the American Pancreas Association (APA) President. Dr. Habtezion is a tenured and endowed Professor of Medicine, currently on a leave of absence from Stanford University. Dr. Habtezion obtained her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Alberta and Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph. She completed her medical degree from McMaster University. Dr. Habtezion completed her Internal Medicine residency from the University of Western Ontario and Gastroenterology & Hepatology clinical fellowship from the University of Toronto in Canada. Following her clinical fellowship training, she obtained postdoctoral research training in Immunology at Stanford University. Dr. Habtezion was born in Eritrea and has lived on three continents and four countries. She enjoys traveling, music, and learning about different cultures.

Amber D. Miller

Job Titles:

Dean of the University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Amber Dawn Miller is the 22nd dean of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where she holds the Anna H. Bing Dean's Chair and a faculty appointment in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. As the leader of the largest non-medical business enterprise at the University with an annual budget of over $600M, Miller is the chief executive responsible for an organization comprised of roughly 1800 faculty and staff organized in over 100 academic and administrative units. Before joining USC Dornsife in August 2016, Miller served as the inaugural Dean of Science for Columbia University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and as a professor in the Columbia Department of Physics for 14 years. Upon arriving at USC Dornsife in 2016, Miller launched the Academy in the Public Square initiative, which encourages faculty to expand their scholarly engagement with the local, national and global communities. The initiative's centerpiece, Public Exchange™, offers a new way of making academic expertise available to the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Public Exchange™ connects a wide range of academic researchers to policy, industry and non-profit organizations that need academic expertise to address complex challenges. Public Exchange™ brings to the table the right combination of researchers, defines the scope and timeline of the project and provides project management and partner engagement throughout the work. As part of her vision for broader scholarly engagement, Miller founded The Center for the Political Future, headed by Robert Shrum, a Democrat, and Mike Murphy, a Republican. The center conducts programming that aims to address pressing societal issues in a way that transcends partisan politics. The center regularly hosts speakers across the political spectrum and engages them in robust and civil debate. Miller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. In 2019, she was appointed to the Los Angeles Sustainability Leadership Council. Miller also served as Chief Science Adviser to the New York City Police Department Counterterrorism Bureau for two years, helping the department calibrate, deploy and train officers in the use of sophisticated counterterrorism equipment. She is a member of the advisory board for the New York Academy of Sciences. Miller's honors and awards include a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award, and a Hubble Fellowship. At Princeton, she was a NASA Graduate Research Program Fellow and a President's Fellow. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Miller's primary scientific research focuses on experimental cosmology. Her Research group has built and deployed both ground-based and balloon-borne telescopes that gather data on the conditions in the universe when it was less than one second old. She and her colleagues examine relic light from the Big Bang with the goal of understanding the origin, evolution and fundamental nature of the universe. She also explores research questions in atmospheric science as well as issues at the interface of science and policy.

Armen Avanessians

Job Titles:

Head and Chief Investment Officer of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Member of the MIT Investment Management Company

Armen Avanessians is the head and chief investment officer of Goldman Sachs Asset Management's (GSAM) Quantitative Investment Strategies group. The QIS team manages active equity, smart beta, and alternative risk premia strategies around the world, focusing on factor-based approaches in stock selection, rules-based and customized indices, hedge fund beta, impact investing, as well as tax-efficient investment strategies. Prior to joining GSAM in 2011, Armen served as head of Strats, a global group responsible for the application of mathematical, quantitative and algorithmic approaches to revenue activities in the Securities, Investment Management and Investment Banking Divisions. He served on the Securities Division Executive Committee since 2003. In over two decades in this role, he was instrumental in developing the teams, practices and platform (SecDb), which collectively drive the commercial application of analytics across most of the firm's activities today. Armen joined Goldman Sachs in 1985 as a foreign exchange strategist and was named partner in 1994. Prior to joining the firm, Armen was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill. Armen is a member of the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) Board, the MIT Sloan Finance Group Advisory Board, the MIT Corporation Department of Economics Visiting Committee, and the Steering Committee of the Masters in Financial Engineering Program at the University of California, Berkeley. He is co-chair of Columbia Universities Data Science Council, as well as a member of the Columbia Engineering's visitors board and the Columbia World Projects President's Council. He is also a board member of FAR (Fund for Armenian Relief), FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), and the National Museum of Mathematics. Armen is a former trustee of Columbia University and chaired its Audit Committee. He also served as a trustee of the Loyola School.

David K.A. Mordecai

Job Titles:

Co - Managing Member, Numerati Partners, LLC
President and Co - Founder of Risk Economics, Inc

David K.A. Mordecai is President and co-founder of Risk Economics, Inc., a New York City based advisory firm, which specializes in the application of computational economics to the proprietary development and scalable implementation of robust modeling and data analytic frameworks for valuation, strategic and systemic risk analysis, and dynamic asset-liability management. Since November 2013, he was appointed and continues to serve as the Scientist-in-Residence at FinTech Innovation Lab. He has served as an adjunct instructor of applied mathematics at Courant, and for the NYU Center for Data Science. In 2014, he was appointed the Course Director to lead the NYUCDS Capstone graduate applied research program in its inaugural year. He is also associated with the NYU Social Media and Political Participation Lab (SMaPP), an interdisciplinary collaboration that researches the relationships between social media and political behavior. He earned a PhD with concentrations in Econometrics / Mathematical Statistics and Economics/Industrial Organization from the University of Chicago, and an MBA in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business. David was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Risk Finance a quarterly peer-reviewed research periodical, which addresses topics in financial risk intermediation. David has served as a member of the board of directors of Scenic Hudson. He is also a member of the leadership council of Black Rock Forest Consortium, a 4,000-acre natural living laboratory for field-based scientific research and education, operated by a consortium of twenty-three colleges and universities, public and independent schools, and scientific and cultural institutions. David K.A. Mordecai, Co-Managing Member, Numerati Partners, LLC; RiskEcon® Lab for Decision Metrics @ Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, New York University; Visiting Scholar, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University; President and Co-Founder, Risk Economics, Inc.

Dr. Darío Gil - SVP

Job Titles:

Director of Research
Senior Vice President
Member of the National Science Board
Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research

Dr. Darío Gil is IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research Dr. Gil is responsible for IBM Research, one of the world's largest and most influential corporate research labs. He directs innovation strategies in hybrid cloud, AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, and exploratory science. He also leads the technical community of IBM and is responsible for the company's intellectual property strategy and business. An advocate of collaborative research models, Dr. Gil co-chairs the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, which advances fundamental AI research to benefit industry and society. He also co-chairs the Executive Board of the International Science Reserve, a global network of open scientific communities that provides specialized resources to prepare for and help mitigate urgent, complex global challenges. Dr. Gil is a member of the National Science Board (NSB), the National Science Foundation (NSF) governing body. He also serves on the President's Research Council of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), the MIT School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council, and the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group. Dr. Gil serves on the boards of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), New York Academy of Sciences, New York Hall of Science, and Research!America. Dr. Gil received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

Dr. Paul M. Horn

Job Titles:

Executive
Founding Partner
Governor
Executive Chair and Founding Partner, Venly

Dr. Paul M. Horn is a Founding Partner and Executive Chair of Venly, a company that assists local businesses grow and transform through social media. At New York University, Dr. Horn led strategic University efforts in developing industrial linkages and relations for the University and its faculty. Dr. Horn was named NYU Distinguished Scientist in Residence in September of 2007 and Senior Vice Provost for Research in September 2009. Prior to his NYU position, he was Senior Vice President of the IBM Corporation and Executive Director of Research. In his 28 years with IBM, Dr. Horn was a champion for translating technology-based research into marketplace opportunities. Under his leadership, IBM Research produced including the chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue, the world's first copper chip, the giant magneto-resistive head, strained silicon, and BlueGene, the world's fastest supercomputer. Dr. Horn graduated from Clarkson College of Technology and received his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Rochester in 1973. Dr. Horn is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow from 1974-1978. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a former Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters. He led the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences as Board Chair for three years. Dr. Horn has received numerous awards including the 2000 Distinguished Leadership award from the New York Hall of Science, the 2002 Hutchison Medal from the University of Rochester, and the 2002 Pake Prize from the American Physical Society. In 2003, Dr. Horn was named one of the top computing business leaders in the US by Scientific American magazine. Paul Horn, Executive Chair and Founding Partner, Venly; Distinguished Scientist in Residence, New York University; Chair Emeritus, The New York Academy of Sciences; former Senior Vice Provost for Research, New York University; former Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research

Ellis Rubinstein

Job Titles:

President Emeritus

Faye Wattleton

Job Titles:

Co - Founder and Director, EeroQ Quantum Hardware
Co - Founder of Eero

Faye Wattleton is a Co-Founder of EeroQ, a leader in the field of quantum computing hardware. Ms. Wattleton's distinguished career spans more than three decades, during which she has amassed an extraordinary track record for leadership, both as a CEO of national not-for-profit organizations and serving on the boards of public and private corporations, academic institutions, and high-impact philanthropic organizations. Perhaps best known for her executive leadership and advocacy of improving the status and healthcare of women, she brings dynamic and demonstrable experience as an executive, board member and consultant in the health sector and public policy arenas. She has served as a director for a range of public companies, including as chair of audit and corporate governance committees. Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Wattleton served as Co-Founder and President of the Center for the Advancement of Women, an independent, nonpartisan think tank, conducting women-focused national research for public education and policy advocacy. During her leadership, CFAW received national and international acclaim for its groundbreaking research on women's opinions, experiences, roles, and status in society. From 1978 to 1992, Ms. Wattleton was President and CEO of the nation's oldest and largest voluntary reproductive health provider, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). She was the youngest, first woman and first African American-and longest tenured professional-to hold this position. At the time of her departure, a restructured Planned Parenthood had grown to become the nation's seventh largest nonprofit organization, with an aggregate budget of $500 million, providing medical and educational services to four million Americans each year, through 170 affiliates operating in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Under its international arm, known as Family Planning International Assistance, PPFA provided technical assistance and commodities to organizations in dozens of developing countries. Lauded as a public spokesperson and for her managerial skills and revolutionary public policy advancement by Business Week and Money, Ms. Wattleton has received countless honors and awards. She is the 2004 recipient of the prestigious Fries Prize for service to improving public health and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. With more than five decades of corporate governance experience serving public and private corporations, Ms. Wattleton is an active member of the board of trustees of Columbia University, the board of governors of the PardeeRand Graduate School and serves on the board of directors of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Previously, she served on the boards of directors of public companies including Ehrlich-BoberFinancial Services (1986-1988), Leslie Fay (1993-1998), Estée Lauder Companies (1995-2003), WellChoice, Inc. (1993-2005), QuidelCorporation (1994-2006) and SavientPharmaceuticals (1997-2007). Ms. Wattleton earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Ohio State University and a master's degree from Columbia University. She holds fourteen honorary degrees.

George D. Yancopoulos

Job Titles:

Co - Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron

Gerald Chan

Job Titles:

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co - Founder, Morningside Group

Grace Wang

Job Titles:

President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Grace Wang, PhD, a highly accomplished materials scientist and engineer as well as a respected educational leader, began as Worcester Polytechnic Institute's 17th president on April 3, 2023. Known as a collaborative leader in higher education, government, and industry, Wang has excelled at building collective vision, delivering impacts, and fostering partnerships to advance education, research, and innovation. Elected by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute(WPI) Board of Trustees after an extensive national search, Wang comes to WPI from The Ohio State University (OSU) where she served as executive vice president for research, innovation, and knowledge, and as a professor in Materials Science and Engineering. At OSU, Wang's efforts helped expand the university's research and innovation ecosystem, achieving $1.38 billion in annual R&D expenditures during her tenure. With a strong focus on supporting faculty, staff, and student researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs, Wang led the team to provide seed funding for curiosity-driven research; attract external funding to establish multiple large-scale, impact-driven, interdisciplinary research centers; launch campus-wide entrepreneurial activities; and enable experiential learning opportunities. Wang played a leading role in building a few large-scale, strategic university-industry partnerships, setting the vision and paving the pathways for the development of OSU's innovation district. Prior to OSU, Wang served a series of increasingly complex leadership roles at the State University of New York (SUNY). Wang started as vice chancellor for research and economic development at SUNY System and as a professor in Materials Design and Innovation at the flagship University at Buffalo. She was subsequently promoted to senior vice chancellor for research and economic development of the SUNY System. During this time, Wang also simultaneously served as the interim provost for the SUNY System for one academic year. For about two and half years, Wang held dual roles as the interim president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and the senior vice chancellor for research and economic development of the SUNY System. Wang led the SUNY research enterprise with about $1.7 billion in annual R&D expenditures, advanced the research and economic development growth strategy, and significantly expanded research capacity in key areas. She supported a purposeful focus on identifying and implementing tools and resources to improve access and affordability at scale; enabling pathways for student success and completion; and fostering a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming campus culture. At SUNY, Wang was instrumental in building large-scale university-industry partnerships to grow impact-driven research and innovation while fueling regional economic growth. Wang led SUNY Poly during the COVID-19 pandemic where she prioritized the health of the community with a hands-on, caring approach. Before SUNY, Wang served as deputy assistant director for engineering and later as acting assistant director for engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF) where she oversaw a funding portfolio of more than $900 million, investing in engineering research, innovation, and education. Wang began her career at IBM/Hitachi Global Storage Technologies where she focused on research and development of thin-film magnetic recording media and carbon overcoat for data storage. She holds seven U.S. patents. In 2022, Wang was appointed by the White House to serve on the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. She is a council member of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the New York Academy of Sciences. Wang earned a BS and MS in Polymer Materials from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. In 2022, Wang received Ellen Swallow Richards Diversity Award from The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS).

Gregory A. Petsko

Job Titles:

Professor of Neurology

Gregory A. Petsko is the Arthur J. Mahon Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Director of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. He received his BA from Princeton University, summa cum laude, in 1970, and his D. Phil. from Oxford University (which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar) in Molecular Biophysics in 1973. He was Professor of Chemistry at MIT from 1978 until 1990, when he moved to Brandeis University, where he was Director of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry. He took up his present position in April of 2012, upon the appointment of his wife, Dr. Laurie Glimcher, as Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. His awards include the Siddhu Award of the American Crystallographic Association, the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (for his development of methods to visualize reaction intermediates in three dimensions at atomic resolution), the Lynen Medal for contributions to the study of protein dynamics, and in 1991 the Max Planck Prize, which he shared with Professor Roger Goody of Heidelberg for their joint work on the molecular origins of some human cancers. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He has an honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University. He is immediate Past-President of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and is President of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is the founder of several biotechnology companies and one of the founding editors of the PLoS family of journals. His research interests include protein structure and function and the development of methods to treat age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Lou Gehrig's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. His public lectures on the aging population and its implications for human health have attracted a wide audience on the Internet (his TED talk, for example, has been downloaded over 600,000 times). For the past twelve years he has also written a widely-read column on science and society, the first ten years of which are available in book form. He admits, however, that the columns guest-written by his two dogs, Mink and Clifford, are much more popular than those he writes himself.

Honorable Jerry MacArthur Hultin - Chairman

Job Titles:

Chairman
Chairman and Co - Founder of the Global Futures Group
Chairman, Board of Governors / Chair and Co - Founder, Global Futures Group, LLC
President of Polytechnic

Mr. Hultin is the chair and co-founder of the Global Futures Group, a consulting, media, and financial advisory firm that supports the use of 21st-century technology to create smart communities and improve the quality of life of citizens around the world. His work has allowed him to meet with and advise leaders in almost all of the major countries of the world. He is Executive-in-Residence for Innovation at Arizona State University; co-founder of Smart Cities NY, one of the largest smart cities summits in North America; an adviser on urban innovation and infrastructure for the World Economic Forum (Davos) and the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils; and the Chair of Educational Housing Services. He was President of Polytechnic University (now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering); Dean at Stevens Institute of Technology; Under Secretary of the Navy for President Clinton; and a member of both the Defense Business Board and the American Battle Monuments Commission for President Obama. As President of Polytechnic, Mr. Hultin led its transformation from traditional engineering to innovation-based engineering, and then its subsequent merger with New York University. He teamed with the Bloomberg administration in making NYC a global leader in technology and venture capital, and he and Paul Horn, the New York Academy of Sciences' prior chair, were architects of NYU's Center for Urban Progress. In addition, Mr. Hultin advised on the design and creation of NYU's global campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, and represented NYU on innovation and urbanization around the world. Mr. Hultin graduated from Yale Law School and Ohio State University, and is a Vietnam veteran.

Jacqueline Corbelli

Job Titles:

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co - Founder, BrightLine
Founder, Chairman and CEO of New York City Tech Start - Up

Jacqueline is Founder, Chairman and CEO of New York City tech start-up, BrightLine. She is at the forefront of redefining the models permanently changed by new trends in TV viewer behavior. MaryEllen Elia, President, Success for Students, Inc.; former Partner and Senior Fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education; former Commissioner of Education and President of The University of the State of New York

Jeanne Fisher

Job Titles:

Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Genetics
Vice - President for Academic Affairs, the Rockefeller University

Michael Young is Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Genetics at The Rockefeller University. He is also the University's Vice-President for Academic Affairs. Young received a BA in biology in 1971 and a PhD in genetics in 1975, both from The University of Texas, Austin. His graduate work, with Burke Judd, examined gene sizes and distributions in the chromosomes of Drosophila. He moved to Rockefeller in 1978, following postdoctoral work on transposable elements with David Hogness in the Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine. In the late 1970s, Young began to use the fruit fly, Drosophila, to explore the molecular bases of circadian (daily) rhythms. Molecular and genetic screens in his laboratory identified six genes that are involved in the formation of a biochemical oscillator with a periodicity close to 24 hours. Interactions among these genes, and their proteins, contribute to a network of molecular oscillations that emerge within most tissues at the level of single cells. Most of the "clock genes" discovered by Young and his colleagues in Drosophila are also central to the circadian pathways of vertebrates. Recently Young's laboratory showed that a prevalent human sleep disorder is caused by dysfunction of such a well-conserved circadian clock gene. Young's elected memberships include the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Physiological Society, London (Honorary). Along with colleagues Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash, he received the 2009 Gruber Neuroscience Prize, 2011 Horwitz Prize, 2012 Canada Gairdner International Award, 2012 Massry Prize, 2013 Wiley Prize, 2013 Shaw Prize and the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries of molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms.

Jeremy Wertheimer

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer, Biological Engineering Ventures

Jeremy Wertheimer received a BE in Electrical Engineering from Cooper Union, and an SM in Computer Science and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from MIT. He founded and served as the CEO of ITA Software, which powers the airfare searches for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines et al. Google acquired ITA Software, and Jeremy served as VP Engineering at Google for 8 years. Jeremy has co-founded companies in computational antibody design, super-resolution microscopy, synthetic cells, computational protein design, online learning, mental wellness and space. He is a visiting Scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He serves on various boards, including MIT Engine and MIT Sandbox. He was a trustee of Cooper Union for 8 years.

Johan Rockström

Job Titles:

Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor, Earth System Science, University of Potsdam
Professor in Environmental Science

Johan Rockström is a Professor in Environmental Science with emphasis on water resources and global Sustainability at Stockholm University, and the Executive Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre.

John E. Sexton

Job Titles:

Chairman Emeritus / Former President, New York University
President of New York University

John Sexton, the fifteenth president of New York University, also is the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law and NYU Law School's Dean Emeritus, having served as Dean for 14 years. He joined the Law School's faculty in 1981, was named the School's Dean in 1988, and was designated the University's President in 2001. President Sexton is Chair of the Independent Colleges and Universities of New York, Chair of the New York Academy of Sciences, and Vice Chair of the American Council on Education. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of both the Association of American University Presidents and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003-2006) and Chair of the Federal Reserve Systems Council of Chairs (2006). He served as a Board Member for the National Association of Securities Dealers (1996-1998), and was Founding Chair of the Board of NASD Dispute Resolution (2000-2002). He also serves on the Boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Institute of International Education and the Association for a Better New York. While Dean of the Law School he was President of the Association of American Law Schools. President Sexton received a BA in History (1963) from Fordham College; an MA in Comparative Religion (1965) and a PhD in History of American Religion (1978) Fordham University; and a JD magna cum laude (1979) from Harvard Law School. He is an author of the nation's leading casebook on Civil Procedure. He also is the author of Redefining the Supreme Court's Role: A Theory of Managing the Federal Court System (a treatment of the Supreme Court's case selection process), in addition to several other books, numerous chapters, articles, and Supreme Court briefs. He holds honorary degrees from Fordham University, Saint Francis College, Saint John's University, University of Rochester, and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The student editors of NYU's Annual Survey of American Law dedicated their Volume 60 in his honor. He was named by Emory University "Outstanding High School Debate Coach of the Last 50 Years" for work he did from 1960-1975. He has been honored at the Harvard Law Review Annual Banquet, and has been named "Alumnus of the Year" both at Fordham and at his high school, Brooklyn Prep. In July 2008 he was named a Chevalier de la Légion ď Honneur, the national order of the Legion of Honor of France. Before coming to NYU, President Sexton served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court (1980-1981), and to Judges David Bazelon and Harold Leventhal of the United States Court of Appeals (1979-1980). For ten years (1983-1993), he served as Special Master Supervising Pretrial Proceedings in the Love Canal Litigation. From 1966-1975, he was a Professor of Religion at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, where he was Department Chair from 1970-1975.

John F. Niblack

Job Titles:

Honorary Life Governor / Former President, Pfizer Global Research & Development

John F. Niblack was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pfizer Inc, and President, Pfizer Global Research and Development. He retired from the company after 36 years of service in September 2002. As president of Pfizer's Global Research and Development division, and its principal scientific officer, Dr. Niblack managed the largest pharmaceutical research force in the world industry, with 12,000 researchers operating on an annual research budget of over $5 billion at the time of his retirement. Pfizer Global R&D research activities span almost every area of medical need, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, infectious disease, and metabolic disorders. Dr. Niblack presently consults for companies and investors involved in pharmaceutical innovation. He is also a student and avid collector of classical Chinese paintings. Dr. Niblack earned a BS degree in chemistry from Oklahoma State University in 1960, and received his MS and PhD degrees in biochemistry from the University of Illinois in 1968.

Justice Warren Burger

Job Titles:

Chief

Karen E. Burke

Job Titles:

Consultant
Dermatologist and Research Scientist
Dermatologist, Research Scientist, and Clinical Professor, Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Honorary Life Governor / Dermatologist and Research Scientist

Dr. Karen Burke is a dermatologist and research scientist in the Department of Dermatology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Following her PhD in biophysics from Cornell University, she completed postdoctoral fellowships at Cornell University Medical College and the Rockefeller University. She earned her MD at New York University Medical College with residency in dermatology. Her current research at Mt. Sinai Medical Center studies the mechanism and efficacy of various topical and oral antioxidants in preventing and reversing photoaging of the skin and in prevention of ultraviolet-induced skin cancer. She has also studied the effects of oral antioxidants on breast cancer and has published research papers on many subjects including fat structure and metabolism, the effects of topical retinoic acid and retinol, and the science and techniques of collagen and other tissue implantation to treat dermal defects. Dr. Burke is the author of four popular health books: Thin Thighs for Life, Great Skin for Life, Thin Thighs Diet and Workout, and Thin Thighs-all of which were published in England and translated into more than seven other languages. She has written numerous research articles and medical textbook chapters and is frequently quoted as a health and skin care expert in many health magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Elle, In Style, and Family Circle. Dr. Burke was the Medical and Science Editor of the Diplomatic World Bulletin of United Nations for which she wrote the "Health Update" column. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Cutis and Aesthetic Dermatology News. Dr. Burke has been a consultant to many companies including L'Oréal (Paris, France) and Ethicon (New Jersey). She has been cited as one of New York's prominent physicians by New York Castle Connolly Guide to Best Doctors magazine and is listed in the Castle Connolly Guide to Best Doctors. Dr. Burke is on the Board of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and of the Women's Dermatologic Society, and is a Trustee of New York's Poly Prep Country Day School. She is founder and president of the Karen E. Burke Research Foundation and of Longévité, Ltd. She is an active member of numerous scientific and medical organizations as well as the Women's Forum of the United Nations and the Europe Society.

Katherine B. Forrest

Job Titles:

Member of the ABA Taskforce
Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Katherine is widely considered among the nation's foremost advisors on legal issues relating to technology, including artificial intelligence, big data, the digital environment, and high- speed trading and content distribution. A veteran trial attorney with more than 30 years of experience, she has led complex, high-stakes litigation spanning antitrust, copyright, patent, and media law, and regulatory and litigation matters at the intersection of technology and the law, including in relation to artificial intelligence, Web3 and digital assets. She has led numerous sensitive, high-profile investigations involving the DOJ, FTC and other U. Katherine is a member of the ABA Taskforce on Law and Artificial Intelligence and was recently named an individual Innovation Award winner in the New York Law Journal's 2023 Legal Awards for her work in AI. She has also been recognized as a leading lawyer by numerous industry publications, including The American Lawyer, Benchmark Litigation, Chambers USA, Global Competition Review, IP Law & Business, Lawdragon and The Legal 500 US. She has received Benchmark Litigation's Hall of Fame Award and has been named to the publication's "Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America" list and "Top 250 Women in Litigation" list. She was named the 2022 New York City "Lawyer of the Year" by The Best Lawyers in America for Antitrust Law and in 2019, she was included in Crain's New York Business's list of "Notable Women in Law." The American Lawyer recognized Katherine as one of 10 district court judges to watch and Law360 named her one of the 10 most influential recently appointed judges.

Kirsten Davies

Kirsten Davies joined Unilever in September of 2021 as their Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Office for Estee Lauder Companies. Business enabling and risk management focused, Davies had a unique and globally-experienced approach to Information Security, Data Privacy, IT, and Digital Transformation. Her hallmarks include transformative vision casting and strategy setting, operational and organizational excellence, and a risk-based approach to enterprise enablement. Having lived and worked on four continents, she is recognized as a thought leader in the transformation process, including refining enterprise-wide ways of working, re-envisioning and establishing organizational cadence and culture, designing and delivering dynamic talent development paths, and innovating and optimizing security processes and risk-mitigating controls. Davies has an established track record of guiding global teams, effectively working across a broad array of industries including manufacturing, finance, energy, telecoms, and media & entertainment.

Konstantin Shakhnovich

Konstantin Shakhnovich is a recently retired financial professional, with a focus on quantitative and electronic trading, statistical arbitrage, and financial technology. Subra Suresh, President, Global Learning Council; Former President of Carnegie Mellon University, and former Director of the US National Science Foundation

Laura B. Sachar

Job Titles:

Co - Founder and Managing Partner of StarVest Partners
Treasurer, Board of Governors / Managing Partner and Co - Founder, StarVest Partners

Laura Sachar is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of StarVest Partners, a New York City based venture capital firm investing in business-to business technology companies and one of the largest women-owned venture capital firms in the US. Laura has been a part of investing nearly half a billion dollars in over 50 technology companies and having served on 12 corporate boards. In 1992, Laura identified digital media as an explosive growth area and founded Sachar Capital. She served as the Founding Chairman of the New York New Media Association Angel Investor Program (precursor to NY Angels). Prior to founding StarVest, Laura was responsible for direct private equity investments at Gabelli Securities and worked in investment banking at Prudential Securities. Laura has a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She is a member of the Young President's Organization, Economic Club of New York, National Association of Corporate Directors, a Columbia Business School Women's Circle Leader and a Private Women's Investor Network Steering Committee Member. Laura actively supports women's and girls' leadership. She also serves on the board of the Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Camp, and she served for nine years on the boards of Ballet Hispanico and TrailBlazers Camp.

Lowell W. Robinson

Job Titles:

Corporate Director and Advisor, Barnes & Noble Education

Mr. Robinson is a highly regarded executive with thirty years of senior global strategic, financial, M&A, operational, turnaround and governance experience at both Fortune 100 consumer products, retail and diversified financial services (Kraft and Citigroup), and high growth companies in technology, software services, biopharma and media/digital (Advo, PRT Group, HotJobs/YAHOO! and Aratana Therapeutics).

Martin H. Nesbitt

Job Titles:

Co - CEO of the Vistria Group
Co - Chief Executive Officer, the Vistria Group, LLC

Mr. Nesbitt serves as Co-CEO of The Vistria Group, LLC, a Chicago-based investment company focused on the education, healthcare and financial services industries. Prior to co-founding Vistria, Mr. Nesbitt served as CEO of The Parking Spot, an owner and operator of off-airport parking facilities. Mr. Nesbitt conceptualized and co-founded the Parking Spot and was responsible for running all strategic and operating aspects of the Company. Mr. Nesbitt sold the Company in 2011 for $370 million. Prior to launching the Parking Spot, Mr. Nesbitt was an officer of the Pritzker Realty Group, L.P. In his various leadership capacities, Mr. Nesbitt has been successful at guiding executive teams toward the achievement of goals established to maximize returns on his investments. Mr. Nesbitt's approach to the off-airport parking business was heralded by industry insiders as extremely innovative and has been recognized in national publications like The New York Times, USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business Magazine.

MaryEllen Elia

Job Titles:

President of Success for Students, Inc
President, Success for Students

MaryEllen Elia is the former New York State Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York (USNY). In this role, she oversaw the work of more than 700 school districts with 3.2 million students; 7,000 libraries; 900 museums; and more than 50 professions encompassing nearly 900,000 licensees. A native New Yorker, Ms. Elia has over 50 years of experience as an educator and was New York's first female Education Commissioner. Prior to her appointment in New York, Ms. Elia served for ten years as superintendent of schools in Hillsborough County, Florida. In Hillsborough, which includes Tampa and is the nation's eighth largest school district. Hillsborough has over 200,000 students and an annual budget of $3 Billion. She successfully implemented higher learning standards, partnered with teachers to develop a comprehensive evaluation system and earned national recognition for gains in student achievement. Ms. Elia has been honored for her work, both in Florida and on a national stage. In 2015, she was named Florida's Superintendent of the Year, received the AASA Women in School Leadership Award from the School Superintendents Association, and was one of four finalists for the National Superintendent of the Year award. Ms. Elia is currently President of Success For Students, Inc., a consulting firm which supports students, educators and educational leaders across the country by providing advice, mentorship and leadership services to individual school districts as well as State Departments of Education. MaryEllen Elia, President, Success for Students, Inc.; former Partner and Senior Fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education; former Commissioner of Education and President of The University of the State of New York

Mr. Peter L. Thorén

Job Titles:

Executive Vice President of Access Industries

Mr. Peter L. Thorén is Executive Vice President of Access Industries, a privately held, U.S.-based industrial group with global strategic interests in media and communications, natural resources and chemicals, venture capital/technology, real estate, entertainment, and biotechnology. Before joining Access in 2001, Mr. Thorén served in senior management positions with Salomon Inc. and Citigroup, and was an attorney with Rogers & Wells law firm. In addition to corporate boards, Mr. Thorén serves on the boards of The New York Academy of Sciences, The Sabin Vaccine Institute (Vice Chairman), The Better Angels Society, The Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, The Board of Visitors of Columbia University's School of Engineering, The Investment Advisory Board of the Blavatnik Fund at Yale University, ThanksUSA, and the Museum of Darien. He also helps to run the Blavatnik Family Foundation which has contributed more than $850 million to hundreds of scientific, educational, cultural and other charitable institutions over the past decade. Mr. Thorén graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa) and has degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the N.Y. State Bar and of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nadav Zafrir

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer and Co - Founder, TEAM8, Inc

Nancy L. Zimpher

Job Titles:

Chairman Emeritus
Chancellor Emeritus, the State University of New York
Chancellor of the State University of New York

In 2009 Nancy L. Zimpher became the 12th Chancellor of The State University of New York. With nearly 463,000 students and 64 campuses, SUNY is the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education. After serving eight years as Chancellor, Dr. Zimpher resigned and was named Chancellor Emeritus becoming the sixth Chancellor to receive this honor is the history of the State University of New York. Chancellor Zimpher lead a diverse set of initiatives at SUNY in several areas, including research and innovation, energy, health care, global affairs, and the education pipeline. She has been a vocal advocate for groundbreaking legislative reforms to ensure SUNY provides broad access to higher education while maximizing its impact as an engine of economic revitalization across the state. Dr. Zimpher is active in numerous state and national education organizations, and is a leader in the areas of teacher preparation, urban education, and university-community engagement. In addition to serving as chair of the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences for five years, Dr. Zimpher is the current chair of the National Association of System Heads. From 2005-2011 she led the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, and from 2012-2013 she was chair of CEOs for Cities. As co-founder of StriveTogether, Zimpher has been instrumental in creating a national network of innovative systemic partnerships that address challenges across the education pipeline. Prior to joining SUNY, Dr. Zimpher served as president of the University of Cincinnati, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and executive dean of the Professional Colleges and dean of the College of Education at The Ohio State University. She has authored or co-authored numerous books, monographs, and academic journal articles on teacher education, urban education, academic leadership, and university partnerships.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Job Titles:

Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons

Natarajan Chandrasekaran is Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate annual revenues of more than US $100 billion. He joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. Chandra also chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17. The Tata group companies include 29 publicly-listed corporations with a combined market capitalization that exceeded US $120 billion at the start of 2017. His appointment as Chairman followed a 30-year business career at TCS, which he joined from university. Chandra rose through the ranks at TCS to become CEO and Managing Director of the leading global IT solution and consulting firm.

Nicholas B. Dirks

Job Titles:

President and Chief Executive Officer, the New York Academy of Sciences

Pablo Legorreta

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Royalty Pharma

Pablo Legorreta is the Founder and CEO of Royalty Pharma. Formed in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the industry leader in acquiring revenue-producing intellectual property, with over $12 billion in assets. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in life sciences, indirectly, when it acquires existing royalty interests from the original innovators (academic institutions, research hospitals, foundations and inventors) or, directly, when it partners with life sciences companies to co-develop and co-fund products in late-stage human clinical trials. Royalty Pharma is a rapidly growing biopharmaceutical company with revenue and EBITDA in 2014 of $1.97 billion and $1.94 billion, respectively. Prior to Royalty Pharma, Mr. Legorreta had a 10 year career as an M&A banker at Lazard Frères - from 1987 to 1990 at Lazard Frères et Cie (Paris) and from 1990 to 1996 at Lazard Frères & Co. (New York). Mr. Legorreta currently serves as a Director of Giuliani S.p.A., Atentiv, and Médica Sur. He serves on the Boards of Trustees of Pasteur Foundation (U.S. affiliate of the French Institut Pasteur), The Open Medical Institute, The Allen-Stevenson School and The Park Avenue Armory. Mr. Legorreta founded and is currently Chairman of Alianza Médica para la Salud, a privately-funded, not-for-profit foundation whose goal is to educate Latin American doctors and healthcare providers. Mr. Legorreta received a degree in industrial engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana.

Paul Stoffels

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Galapagos NV Former Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson
Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson

Paul Stoffels is Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. As such, he is focused on leading global teams to discover and develop new and innovative treatments for unmet medical needs in the areas of CNS, pain, infectious disease, metabolism, cardiovascular disease, and primary care across Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC, ALZA Corporation, and TransForm Pharmaceuticals Inc. Previously, he was company group chairman, Virology, where he led both R&D and commercialization activities for one of the newest business segments of Johnson & Johnson. He has more than 15 years global experience in both pharmaceutical and HIV/AIDS R&D. He joined the Janssen Research Foundation (JRF) and worked for four years as physician/researcher in Kinshasa, Congo and Kigali, Rwanda. His research was focused on AIDS and infectious diseases. In 1991, he became the head of development for infectious diseases at JRF in Beerse, Belgium, where he was instrumental in the development of antifungal drugs. In 1997, he left Janssen to become CEO of Tibotec-Virco, where he grew the company from a technology-based research company into an integrated pharmaceutical R&D organization focused on the discovery and development of new drugs and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Both during and after his MD training, Dr. Stoffels had a special interest in health care problems in the developing world, especially Africa. He was instrumental in building the relationship between UNAIDS/WHO and the pharmaceutical industry with regard to the provision of HIV drugs in Africa. He has a continued interest to explore solutions for health care problems in the developing world. He also represents Johnson & Johnson for in-depth discussions on Health related matters at the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He studied Medicine at the University of Diepenbeek and the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

R. May Lee

Job Titles:

Leader

May Lee is a global thought leader on innovation/digital transformation, education and gender workplace issues. Over the last eight years, May has led two groundbreaking innovations in higher education: New York University Shanghai and ShanghaiTech University. Utilizing her experience in various industries (financial services, education, and marketing), insight into entrepreneurship and deep understanding of the innovation ecosystem in China and the U.S., May offers strategic advice to large organizations on change management and digital transformation. Moreover, her ability to bridge academic research and product development gives her a unique ability to drive innovation within an organization. R. May Lee, Co-leader, Guild of Future Architects; Adjunct Professor of "Entrepreneurship and Architecture", Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; former Dean, School of Entrepreneurship and Management, ShanghaiTech University; and former Vice Chancellor, New York University

Ravi Kumar S.

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant

Ravi Kumar S was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant in January 2023. In his role as CEO, Ravi sets the strategic direction of the company, promotes Cognizant's client-first culture, and focuses on ensuring sustainable growth and driving long-term shareholder value. He is a highly accomplished services industry executive with experience across digital transformation, traditional technology and engineering services, data and analytics, cloud and infrastructure, and consulting. Prior to Cognizant, Ravi served as President of Infosys from 2016 to 2022, where he led the global services organization across all industry segments and served as Chairman of the Board of Infosys BPM Ltd. Previously, he was the Group Head for the Insurance, Healthcare, and Cards and Payments unit, and led the Global Delivery organization where he built the Oracle and CRM practices. Before joining Infosys, Ravi served in positions of increasing responsibility at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cambridge Technology Partners, Oracle and Sapient (now Publicis Sapient). The early part of his career was spent as a nuclear scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center of India. Ravi holds various prominent positions on multiple boards. He serves as a board member of TransUnion, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences. Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors for Digimarc Corporation from June 2021 to May 2023. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Shivaji University and an M.B.A. from Xavier Institute of Management, India.

Reid Hoffman

Job Titles:

Co - Founder LinkedIn, Partner, Greylock Partners

Paul Horn, Executive Chair and Founding Partner, Venly; Distinguished Scientist in Residence, New York University; Chair Emeritus, The New York Academy of Sciences; former Senior Vice Provost for Research, New York University; former Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research