October 16, 2009
Friday
5:30 pm
Broida 1610

Watch Video

 

 

 
Calestous Juma
Professor, Harvard Kennedy School

REBOOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Entrepreneurship in the Age of Technological Abundance
  

Professor of the Practice of International Development
Director, Science, Technology, Globalization Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

View Calestous Juma's Web Page at Harvard

Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project. He also directs the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Founding Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi, and he also served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He has been elected to several scientific academies including the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. He has won several international awards for his work on sustainable development. He holds a PhD in science and technology policy studies and has written widely on science, technology, and environment. He teaches courses in developmental policy as part of the MPA/ID Program. He is lead author of Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. He is editor of the International Journal of Technology and Globalisation and International Journal of Biotechnology.  

October 23, 2009
Friday
5:30 pm
Broida 1610

 

 

Debora Kristofferson
VP, Creative Marketing and Customer Engagement
Walmart.com

Building Your Brand and Business - The Critical Customer Role

 
(An Outstanding Alum!)

As Vice President of Creative and Customer Engagement for Wal-Mart's successful online channel, Walmart.com, Ms. Kristofferson is responsible for the teams that make it easy for customers to find, buy and research hundreds of thousands of products online. The various branches of her team include professionals in editorial, design, PR, imagery and social media. Ms. Kristofferson's responsibilities also include the creative development of cross channel programs that bridge the offline world of Wal-Mart's 120 million customers to the ever-growing and increasingly important world of the Internet.

Before joining Walmart.com, Debbie managed similar teams at Excite and Third Age Media. Prior to joining the Internet "revolution", she was an Executive Producer of television programming and produced award-winning programs for many stations, including the Discovery Channel, Lifetime Television and The Travel Channel.

Debbie's passion is leading creative teams and being part of the creative process that leads to exciting products and/or programming for consumers.

Debbie is married and the mother of Taylor, 11, and Jack, 9.

Debbie is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies: English, political science and theater.  

October 29, 2009
Thursday
5:30 pm
Broida 1610

Watch Video

 

 

 

 
Kevin Surace
Chairman & CEO
Serious Materials

www.seriousmaterials.com

Our Last Chance to Save America
   
Mr. Surace, a noted speaker and writer on climate change and the built environment, is on a mission to significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels and their effect on the environment. As CEO of Serious Materials, Kevin leads the company in its mission to reduce energy usage and CO2 generation of the world’s largest contributor, our buildings. By developing new materials and processes that require little energy to manufacture, and advanced products which dramatically improve the insulation and comfort of homes and offices, a worst-case climate and energy catastrophe can be avoided.

Before joining Serious Materials in 2002, Mr. Surace held executive and technical positions with Perfect Commerce, General Magic, Air Communications, National Semiconductor, and Seiko-Epson. He received his degree in electrical engineering technology from Rochester Institute of Technology where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees, and has been awarded multiple patents. Mr. Surace also serves on the boards of FreeLight, Array Converter, Zeta Communities, and Integrity Block; chairs the Sunnyvale Mayoral Green Ribbon Committee; and co-chaired the CCTO Building Materials contest.

November 12, 2009
Thursday
5:30 pm
Broida 1610

 

John Davies
Founder, Davies Public Affairs

http://www.daviespublicaffairs.com/index3.php

Communication and Persuasion in an Era of Digital Media

  
As one of the nation’s most respected communication strategists, John Davies clearly understands the business of persuasion. He is constantly searching for trends and methods to utilize on behalf of his firm’s clients, and applies his lifelong study of human behavior and effective communications strategies to teach them how to earn attention and gain influence in the complex information saturated decision-making process of today. 

November 19, 2009
Thursday
5:30 pm
Broida 1610

 

Mark Sylvester
Co Founder, CEO, IntroNetworks

A Practical Context and Future Vision for Social Networking

http://www.intronetworks.com/management.html

 
Mark has been on the leading edge of software development for more than twenty years. As a co-founder of Wavefront Technologies, Mark and his team developed software that completely revolutionized the way the world is entertained. He co-designed Wavefront's flagship product, Advanced Visualizer, which was the first commercial 3D modeling and animation system.

Working directly with major Hollywood studios, the company introduced the world to computer-generated animation and received many accolades - including an Oscar for Technical Achievement. Mark was instrumental in growing Wavefront over ten years to a $45 million company.

As the liaison between Fortune 500 clients and Wavefront software developers, Mark shared with non-technologists the possibilities of a new breed of software and worked with developers to make clients' dreams come true. Beyond helping design products that were tailored for the entertainment industry, Wavefront's technologies revolutionized the design and video game industries as well.