Workshop Presenters

Dr. Meghana Ayyagari received her Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2004. She teaches courses in international financial management and international business. Professor Ayyagari's research focuses on international corporate governance structures and property rights protection across countries. Her research interests also include the theory of the firm with an emphasis on the constraints faced by firms in developing economies. Professor Ayyagari's academic research has been published in the Review of Financial Studies and Small Business Economics. Professor Ayyagari has served as a consultant for several international organizations including the Development Research Group at the World Bank, USAID, and the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS). Professor Ayyagari is a member of the American Finance Association (AFA), Western Finance Association (WFA) and the Academy of International Business (AIB) and has served as a referee on several finance, economic and management journals.

Ms. Svetlana Bagaudinova,a senior private sector development specialist, joined the Doing Business team in 2006. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Bagaudinova worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she specialized in energy and infrastructure projects. Ms. Bagaudinova holds a master’s degree in sociology from Moscow State University and a master’s degree in international business from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She speaks Russian.

Mr. William B. Beddow retired May 1, 2009 as Director, Emerging Markets Governmental Affairs for Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines (www.cat.com). Based in Washington, D.C., he had responsibility for the company’s governmental and public affairs strategies in key global Emerging Markets, primarily China, India, ASEAN and the CIS. Beddow joined Caterpillar’s Washington, DC office in 1987 as a governmental affairs manager, assuming responsibility for Washington Affairs in 1990. In 1993 he moved to Brussels, Belgium as the company’s Manager for Corporate Public Affairs – Europe, overseeing communication strategies for the company’s nearly 20,000 European employees and relations with the European Union. In 2000 he transferred to Caterpillar’s European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland as part of the company’s European Shared Services organization. From 2002 – 2004, Beddow served as Director, Corporate Communications located at Caterpillar’s global headquarters in Peoria, Illinois (USA). In that capacity, he had global responsibility for communications including employee publications and electronic-based media, press relations, corporate image management and the company’s Annual Report. From 2005 until 2008, he managed Caterpillar’s expanding public affairs and government relations operations in China, based in Beijing, with additional public communications responsibilities throughout Asia-Pacific. In that role, he also oversaw creation of governmental and public affairs functions in Indonesia, India and Russia/CIS. Beddow graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY (USA) in 1974, and in 1976 received a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. He also studied at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany from 1972-1973. Prior to joining Caterpillar, he was Vice President for Governmental and International Affairs with the National Constructors Association in Washington, DC, representing the 50 largest US engineering-construction companies. Beddow served as chairman of the US-Indonesia Business Council and vice chairman of the Washington Export Council, and was on the Board of Directors of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the US-Russia Chamber of Commerce, the US-Turkmenistan Business Council and the American Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Wade Channel is an economic development expert specializing in the use of law and legal reform to stimulate economic growth. A senior legal reform advisor for USAID, Wade has more than 20 years of experience in identifying legal and institutional constraints to private sector activity and economic freedom. He has worked extensively in Africa, Eastern Europe and Eurasia on economic reform projects and has lived in Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Croatia and Belgium. While in Croatia, Wade also served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). He currently resides in Northern Virginia with his longsuffering wife and daughters.

Ms. Mohini Chopra is a seasoned business executive with financial and general management experience in a diverse set of industries including Consumer Packaged Goods, Healthcare, and Industrial Products. She was most recently employed at William Wrigley Jr. Company as the Vice President of Innovation Strategy & Resource Management. She was a key member of the team that increased revenues from new products from low single digits to an average of 18-20% of the Company revenues. Previously, Mohini served as the Company’s International Controller, providing financial and strategic leadership to Wrigley’s international business. Key accomplishments included business expansion into developing markets in East Europe and China. Mohini joined Wrigley in 1997. Prior to joining Wrigley, Mohini was Director International Finance with the NutraSweet Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Monsanto Inc. In this role, she had primary responsibilities for directing financial policies and reporting of the company’s International businesses. She also worked extensively on business expansion through new product offerings, acquisitions and joint ventures. During her tenure, NutraSweet completed multiple joint ventures in developing markets. In addition to her CPG experience, Mohini has a strong foundation in entrepreneurship. In 1984, Mohini founded a healthcare consulting company in partnership with her husband. The firm provided advisory services to hospitals and physician practices for various management and strategic matters. The company has evolved today to a diversified healthcare services company with a focus on the ownership and operation of outpatient healthcare facilities. Mohini’s husband and her two sons are principals of the business. Earlier in her career, Mohini held various positions in finance at Ford Motor Company and Clow Corporation, a mid size industrial corporation. As VP Finance and Treasurer of Clow, she successfully secured a $150MM financing package for a leveraged buyout. Mohini has also been active in many civic and non-profit organizations throughout her life. She currently serves on various boards. Mohini has a Masters of Management degree from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, a Masters of Science degree in Industrial management from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Punjab University, India.

Dr. Reid Click received his Ph.D. in Economics and International Business from the University of Chicago in 1994. He teaches courses in international financial management, international business strategy, and international economics. Professor Click's academic research has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Asian Economics, Development Policy Review, Journal of International Business Studies, International Journal of Finance and Economics, and Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. His research has also been featured in Business Week and the Milken Institute Review. He is the coauthor of a textbook, The Theory and Practice of International Financial Management (Prentice Hall 2002), and coedited two volumes of International Finance Review -- Value Creation in Multinational Enterprise, with J. Jay Choi (vol. 7, Elsevier Ltd. 2007), and Latin American Financial Markets: Developments in Financial Innovations, with Harvey Arbelaez (vol. 5, Elsevier Ltd. 2004). Dr. Click has been a consultant for several international organizations, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and has been a Visiting Researcher at the International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development in Japan. During 2003, he served as Fulbright Senior Specialist in Krakow, Poland, and subsequently as Visiting Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center under funding from the World Gold Council. Since 2002, he has served as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Dr. Ed Connerley is the Senior Advisor for Decentralization and Local Governance in the Office of Democracy and Governance, U.S. Agency for International Development. He advises USAID missions worldwide concerning decentralization support programs and local government strengthening efforts. Prior to joining USAID, Dr. Connerley was Associate Professor and Executive Director of the International Management Development Institute, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. His career includes short-term consulting assignments in more than 40 countries for a variety of international development donor and lender organizations. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Ms. Chloe Feinberg joined the FEC team as Senior Intrapreneur on the lastmile health initiative where she evaluates low-cost diagnostic capabilities and will train business owners of healthpoints. In May 2009 she finished her master’s in International Science and Technology Policy at GWU, focusing on the links between technology and entrepreneurship in development. Prior to joining Ashoka, Chloe worked on the Biotechnology Engagement Program for Health and Human Services. She uses these experiences in her work at Ashoka as FEC leverages technology to bring access to rural areas via Hybrid Value Chains. Chloe studied the effects of ICTs, entrepreneurship and health in Azerbaijan and Kenya.

Mr. Micheal Fine is responsible for promoting private sector initiatives at TI-USA. In this capacity, he works with companies, industry associations and international initiatives to develop anti-bribery and good corporate practice codes and improve internal controls. He also advises U.S. companies on the changing legal landscape and their compliance programs, coordinates best practice exchanges, and is developing practical implementation tools, including an “SME Anti-Bribery Toolkit,” for use by U.S. companies and their supply chains. Mr. Fine has extensive experience working with the private sector to design and implement legal compliance programs, with a particular focus on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and global counterparts. He is the author of a groundbreaking study on program design practices at major multinational firms, has worked with a leading provider of on-line training content, and was counsel to a World Economic Forum task force on developing corporate compliance programs for combating public corruption. Mr. Fine has practiced law in Washington, D.C. for over 25 years. Following law school, he was a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and practiced international law and public advocacy as a partner at Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP. In 2003, Mr. Fine founded NXG Global Law & Compliance PLLC to help companies develop and implement comprehensive legal compliance programs. Mr. Fine received a J.D. with distinction from Boston University Law School and is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia, U.S. Supreme Court, and Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Dr. Timothy L. Fort is the Executive Director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility and holds Lindner-Gambal Professorship of Business Ethics at George Washington University Business School. He is also an Academic Advisor for the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics and is a Fellow of the William Davidson Institute. He is the Director of the Program on Peace Through Commerce at George Washington University’s Business School and is also a Lecturer at the George Washington University School of Law. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Fort formerly served as Professor of Business Law and Business Ethics at the University of Michigan. In 2003, he was given a world-wide Award for Academic Leadership by the Beyond Grey Pinstripes report. This report, constructed by the Aspen Institute and the World Resources Institute is the most prominent ratings initiative for corporate responsibility and Professor Fort was recognized for his leadership in academic research and pedagogy. In addition to this award, he is the former holder of the Bank One Corporation Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. In 1998, he was named the Outstanding Junior Faculty Member of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business ("ALSB"). He has also been awarded student-based Faculty Awards from George Washington University’s Executive MBA Program and from Loyola University Chicago. The ALSB has awarded him, individually or with co-authors, three Outstanding National Conference Proceeding Paper Awards, six Distinguished National Conference Proceeding Paper Awards, two Ralph Bunche Awards for best International Paper, a Holmes-Cardozo Award for best overall conference paper, and a Ralph Hoeber Award for Research Excellence. He is the author Business, Integrity, and Peace: Beyond Geopolitical and Disciplinary Boundaries (Cambridge University Press, 2007) and Prophets, Profits, and Peace (Yale University Press, 2008). He is co-author of The Role of Business in Fostering Peaceful Societies published by Cambridge University Press in 2004. Oxford University Press published his book, Ethics and Governance: Business as Mediating Institution, in 2001. His work has also appeared in Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Review, Business & Society, Business & Professional Ethics, Notre Dame Law Review, Journal of Corporation Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Cornell International Law Journal, American Business Law Journal, and the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. He served on the editorial boards of The Academy of Management Review and American Business Law Journal for six years and has served on the editorial board of Business Ethics Quarterly since 2002. He also serves on the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Economic Empowerment in Strategic Regions and has worked directly with the Department of Commerce on training business ethics institutes and in fostering the understanding of peace through commerce. He formerly served as co-Director of the Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Area of the Davidson Institute and as co-Director of the Michigan Business School's Center for Corporate Governance and Sustainable Peace. His presentation of his research and business on sustainable peace was used by The World Bank as a video program delivered to participants of the 2003 meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He has also facilitated an interactive, Internet-base dialogue and education program concerning the extent to which businesses can contribute to sustainable peace and has offered two programs already with the World Bank on the topic of business and peace. His work focuses on the legal and ethical frameworks necessary to regularize ethical business behavior with particular attention to how businesses can be constructed as communal “mediating institutions” that match neurobiological human capabilities with communal sizes necessary for enhancing ethical behavior, how a teleological goal of sustainable peace is a realistic contribution for businesses and an orienting mission that requires responsible business behavior, and finally, how commercialization of technology and science raises new sets of challenges for ethical business behavior enhancing even further the need for businesses to be mediating institutions with an ultimate aim of contributing for sustainable global security. On a lighter note, he is under contract with Houghton-Mifflin to write, The Afterlife of Dogs, tentatively scheduled for release in Summer 2009 and is negotiating two new book contracts, Seven Dogs in Heaven (a collection of seven children’s stories) and How God Made Notre Dame #1 and Other Spiritual Truths We Learn By Watching Sports. He and his wife Nancy live in Silver Spring, Maryland with her father, their three children (adopted from China and from Ethiopia as well as one of their own doing), and a Basset Hound. He co-owns a 500 acre working family farm in Illinois with his siblings that traces its family ownership, in part, back to the 1800s. Professor Fort can be contacted a timfort@gwu.edu.

Dr. Kohl Gill covers South Asia and the Middle East for the Office of International Labor and Corporate Social Responsibility (ILCSR) in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. ILCSR deals with such labor issues as freedom of association and collective bargaining, forced labor, child labor, migrant labor, child soldiers, and the labor rights aspects of US trade agreements. ILCSR is also the State Department nodal office for corporate social responsibility, and engages in multistakeholder initiatives in that respect. Kohl also specializes in engaging diaspora communities in development work, using mobile technologies for labor rights, and the effects of climate change on workers. Kohl was a 2006-8 AAAS S&T Policy Fellow in the Department of Energy's Office of Science, where he coordinated basic science and applied technology research within the DOE, and managed NSTC Interagency Groups on Aeronautics Research and the Science of Science Policy. He also taught Sustainability Science and Policy for the American University Environmental Studies Department. Kohl was a 2005-6 Indicorps Fellow, serving as a volunteer paralegal advocate in urban slum areas of Delhi, India, promoting transparency and anti-corruption tools for development purposes. In Delhi he worked with individuals, citizen groups, NGOs, government and quasi-government bodies, providing training and advice and producing audio-visual and print media. His transparency work touched on health care, environment, basic services and infrastructure, land use, government contracting and policy development. Kohl received his MS and PhD in semiconductor physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At UCSB he studied storage of electrons in self-assembled, coupled quantum dots with applications toward quantum computing. Kohl also performed research on superconductor physics while earning his BS at the California Institute of Technology. Kohl was born and raised in northern Mississippi.

Anuja Jaitly A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of London, Anuja joins Ashoka's Full Economic Citizenship program as Senior Intrapreneur. Prior to Ashoka, Anuja’s experience has included consulting, project management, and research in four continents across the private, public, citizen, academic, and government sectors. Anuja has led initiatives to improve math and science education at the U.S. Department of Education, has provided higher education for refugees from Congo and Zimbabwe, distributed knowledge regarding the right to education in South Africa, and furthered the implementation of a World Health Organization study to eradicate polio in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Ambassador Humayun Kabir became Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States on July 25, 2007. A career diplomat with the rank of Permanent Secretary to the Government, Ambassador Kabir previously served as Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (2006-07), as well as Ambassador to Nepal (2003-06). In addition, he was Director-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for South Asia and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (2003), for Europe (2002), and for the United Nations (2001). He also served as Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kalkata, India (1999-01), First Secretary and Counselor (1991-94) at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kalkata, India, Counselor at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1996-99), and Second and First Secretary at the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington (1987-91). Additional postings include Director of the U.N. and Foreign Secretary’s Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994-96), Private Secretary to the Advisor for Foreign Affairs and section officer at the Foreign Minister’s Office (1984-87), and lecturer at the University of Dhaka (1977-80). Ambassador Kabir, a freedom fighter during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, has written extensively on diplomacy with a focus on multilateral and public diplomacy and U.N. peacekeeping. He holds a master’s in political science and a bachelor’s in law degree from the University of Dhaka, in addition to studies at the Academy of International Law in The Hague and at the University of Paris XI in France. Ambassador Kabir speaks English, French, Hindi and Nepali, and he is married with two sons.

Dr. Daniel Kaufmann is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. Most recently, he served as Director in the World Bank Institute, where he pioneered new approaches to measure and analyze governance and corruption, helping countries formulate action programs. Kaufmann is a world renowned writer on governance, corruption, and development, who, with colleagues, has pioneered new approaches to diagnose and analyze country governance. At the World Bank, Kaufmann also held senior positions focused on finance, regulation and anti-corruption, as well as on capacity building for Latin America. He also served as lead economist both in economies in transition as well as in the World Bank's research department, and earlier in his career was a senior economist in Africa. In the early nineties, Kaufmann was the first Chief of Mission of the World Bank to Ukraine, and then he held a visiting position at Harvard University, prior to resuming his career at the World Bank. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum (Davos) Faculty. His research on economic development, governance, the unofficial economy, macro-economics, investment, corruption, privatization, and urban and labor economics has been published in leading journals. Kaufmann is a Chilean national who received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics at Harvard, and a B.A. in Economics and Statistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ms. Pilar Martinez spent her childhood years living between Central America, Europe, and the U.S. Her diverse upbringing and the first hand challenges she witnessed living through years of social and economic turmoil in Nicaragua have imbued her with an entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to issues of social justice and economic development. Pilar brings over six years of experience leading change through democracy and governance initiatives in Latin America. In 2006, she was one of the youngest Executive Directors to lead a grassroots movement in Nicaragua. In less than two years, she transformed the organization into one of the largest and most renowned grassroots movements in the country. In May 2008, Pilar joined Ashoka to support the FEC team with its global operations and marketing efforts. Pilar is a graduate of Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she double majored in Economics and International Relations and minored in French.

Ms. Geneive Brown Metzger was appointed Jamaica’s eighth Consul General to New York City on February 21, 2008. Up until her appointment, Mrs. Brown Metzger was a Public Relations & Marketing Consultant--working in that industry for 28 years. She established the firm Geneive Brown Associates in 1984, focused on emerging markets. She is a founding member of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI), and the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations and has served on several trade and investment boards in the USA. She also served until her appointment, on the African American Advisory Board to Westchester County Executive, Andrew Spano, and on New York Governor Cuomo is Committee on Black Affairs in the 1980’s. Mrs. Brown Metzger has also been a Director of Policy and Government Relations at the National Council of Negro Women, Senior Administrator at New York Civil Liberties Union, and at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She was the national Managing Director of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the U.S. Supreme desegregation case, Brown vs. Board of Education. In 1977, she also was the administrator of the 25th anniversary celebration of the same case. Her very successful consulting practice was merged with the worldwide Public Relations firm Ruder Finn in 1990, where she established the Emerging Markets and Caribbean Business division. Ruder Finn currently manages the Public Relations account for the Jamaica Tourist Board and Air Jamaica Limited. Mrs. Brown Metzger received the Minority Business of the Year Award from the National Minority Business Council (NMBC), and the Achievement Award from the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York. She has been featured in The New York Times, on FOX NY television, on Black Entertainment Television (BET), The Jamaica Gleaner, and in several U.S. and Caribbean print media. She is an amateur classical violinist and a devoté of the arts, serving over the years on the Caribbean Steering Committee of the Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, the Board of Directors of the Paramount Center for the Arts and special committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She is the founder of the Amadeus Circle, and the One World Arts and Culture Fest, a multi-day cultural celebration on the Hudson River in northern New York.

Dr. Tjai Nielsen concentrates on conducting impactful research on topics ranging from work team effectiveness to predictors of international investment, delivering quality learning experiences to students, and partnering with clients to improve their effectiveness. He is currently an assistant professor at George Washington University, School of Business (GWSB) and an international faculty member at Copenhagen Business School. Dr. Nielsen has won several teaching awards for his work leading classes in the full-time, part-time, and executive MBA programs and GWSB’s doctoral program. Dr. Nielsen’s academic work has resulted in more than 20 research articles and book chapters and more than 40 refereed paper presentations at national conferences. Recently, Dr. Nielsen was invited to join a United Nations Expert Group on Diasporas and Development and received a Best Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management. He currently serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Organizational Behavior. The majority of his current research concentrates on the motivational and behavioral contingencies that impact work team performance and the dynamics of diaspora investment patterns. Dr. Nielsen also integrates a significant background in consulting with his academic work. Prior to joining GWSB, Dr. Nielsen worked as a management consultant for RHR International, a premier executive consulting firm founded in 1945. In this role he partnered with different organizations to assist them with executive selection and development, succession planning, team development, and executive coaching. Dr. Nielsen has worked with a variety of organizations within the financial services, consumer products, retail, pharmaceutical, and utility industries in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. He continues to consult and provide executive education services to several client organizations. Dr. Nielsen earned his doctorate in Industrial and Applied Psychology from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), his master’s degree in Education from the University of North Carolina (WCU), and he holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Academy of Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Dr. Susan Phillips joined The George Washington University School of Business as Dean and Professor of Finance in July 1998. Previously, she was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from December 1991 through June 1998. Before her Federal Reserve appointment, Dr. Phillips served as Vice President for Finance and University Services and Professor of Finance in The College of Business Administration at the University of Iowa (1987 to 1991). Dr. Phillips‘ areas of specialization include monetary policy, regulation and supervision of financial institutions, derivatives, financial management and economic theory of regulation. She is a member of the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s Board of Directors. She also serves on the boards of directors of the Kroger Company, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), and the National Futures Association as well as the Financial Accounting Foundation’s board of trustees. As a member of AACSB International’s Board of Directors, she chaired the AACSB Ethics Education Task Force from 2003 to 2004. Dr. Phillips earned a B.A. in mathematics from Agnes Scott College in 1967, a M.S. in finance and insurance from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1971, and a Ph.D. in finance and economics from LSU in 1973. Dr. Phillips was an Assistant Professor at LSU from 1973 to 1974. She joined the University of Iowa in 1974 as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration. From 1976 to 1977, she was a Brookings Economic Policy Fellow, and spent the following year as a SEC Economic Fellow with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dr. Phillips returned to the University of Iowa in 1978 as an Assistant Professor. She was appointed Acting Assistant Vice President for Finance and University Services in 1979, and served in that post until her selection as Associate Vice President for Finance and University Services in 1980. In 1981, Dr. Phillips was appointed to membership on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and became its Chairman in 1983. She was reappointed as Commissioner and Chairman of the CFTC in 1985 and served until her resignation in 1987 when she returned to the University of Iowa as Vice President. She has won several awards for her research, including the Chicago Board Options Exchange Pomerance Prize for outstanding research in options in 1980, and has authored dozens of scholarly publications, including The SEC and the Public Interest, a book co-written with J. Richard Zecher. She contributes regularly to The International Economy. Other honors and awards include Phi Beta Kappa, Agnes Scott College; Beta Gamma Sigma, Louisiana State University; Outstanding Alumna Award, Agnes Scott College; Hall of Distinction, LSU Alumni Association and separately LSU College of Business Administration; and Futures Hall of Fame, Futures Industry Association.

Dr. Rex Pingle has over thirty-five years of experience in emerging markets, providing private sector investment, financing and financial advisory services to governments, corporations, financial institutions and private investors. Mr. Pingle has been the President and CEO of PMD International, Inc. (“PMD”) since its establishment in 1987. Mr. Pingle is responsible for PMD’s worldwide activities. From 1981-1988, Mr. Pingle was Senior Vice President of Lazard Frères & Co. in New York and Director of the International Government and Corporate Finance Group, responsible for all emerging markets activities, including corporate and project finance, government advisory and debt restructuring assignments. From 1980 to 1981, he served as Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation. From 1973 to 1979, Mr. Pingle was employed by Chemical Bank, New York where he became Vice President; Director of Chemical Asia Ltd., Hong Kong; and was a member of the Credit Policy Committee of the Bank. Mr. Pingle graduated with a B.A. in History form the University of Virginia in 1968. In 1971, he obtained a Diploma in International Economics from the Free University of Brussels. Subsequently, he completed doctoral course work in economic development and international trade at The Johns Hopkins University. PMD INTERNATIONAL, INC. PMD International Inc. (“PMD”) is a private investment bank formed in 1987 by a group of senior bankers from Lazard Frères & Co., New York and Lazard Brothers Limited, London. PMD focuses exclusively on private sector cross-border transactions and investments in developing countries. PMD specializes in the following services: • Project Finance • Direct Foreign Investment • Corporate Finance, Acquisition & Divestiture • International Debt Restructuring The Directors of PMD have completed transactions in over seventy-five countries. In addition to funding and implementing transactions, PMD provides clients with financial and commercial advice, market-specific information and detailed economic, financial and political analysis. PMD has extensive experience in attracting and making direct foreign investments in developing countries, including those categorized as “post-conflict” and “fragile states”. Recent transactions include funding for projects in Afghanistan, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan and Kosovo. PMD is currently working on private sector investments in Pakistan, Mongolia and Timor-Leste, among other locations. PMD has been involved in some of the world’s largest cross-border limited recourse project financings. PMD’s Directors are identified with the development of two well-known project finance innovations: the Build-Own-Transfer and Build-Own-Operate concepts and the leasing of public sector infrastructure in emerging markets. PMD’s Directors were also responsible for the first use of Shariah-compliant Revenue Participation Certificates to finance infrastructure. PMD maintains offices in Washington, D.C., USA and London, England. Contact information is available at www.pmdintl.com.

Dr. Ashraf El Rabiey is Minister Plenipotentiary and the Head of the Commercial and Economic Office at the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Washington, D.C. He is the former First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Egypt and Head of the Egyptian Foreign Commercial Service from March, 2005 to February, 2007. This is his second posting in Washington and his third posting in the United States. He first served in Washington from 1989 to 1993. He was posted as the Head of the Egyptian Commercial Office in New York from 1999 to 2005. He also served in Tokyo, Japan as Commercial Counselor from 1995 to 1999. His first posting was in Prague, Czech Republic from 1983 to 1987. Dr. Ashraf El Rabiey has participated in numerous trade negotiations between Egypt and other countries, whether bilateral or multilateral. He graduated from Cairo University in 1974 and continued his studies at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands where he received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1987.

Dr. Liesl Riddle is an Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs at The George Washington University. She holds a BA and MA in Middle Eastern Studies, a MBA in Marketing/International Business, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Riddle has written extensively about diasporas and development, international entrepreneurship, and trade and investment promotion. She is a member of a United Nations’ advisory panel concerning diaspora investment and entrepreneurship policies. Dr. Riddle is the co-principle investigator of a multi-year research study, the Diaspora-Homeland Capital Investment Project, funded by the Center for International Business Education and Research. Dr. Riddle has conducted fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey and among diaspora communities in the USA and Europe (Afghan, Armenian, Cuban, Ghanaian, Iranian, Liberian, and Palestinian communities). She is on the editorial board of two journals, Education Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues and the Journal of Education for Business. Dr. Riddle is the acting director of the Diaspora Program within GW’s Elliott School for International Affairs’ Institute for Global Studies (http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/researchcenters/diaspora.cfm). She also serves on the Executive Committee of GW’s Institute of Middle East Studies (http://www.gwu.edu/~imes/). Dr. Riddle teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, including Managing in Developing Countries, International Marketing, Survey Research Methods, and Introduction to International Business. She has received Best Reviewer Awards from the Academy of International Business and the Academy of Management. She has received numerous GW teaching awards, including the School of Business’ Teaching Excellence Award. Prior to her academic appointment, Dr. Riddle worked in the field of market research on both the client and supplier side of the industry. Most recently she held the position of the Director of Research for the international market research firm, FH&R in Houston, Texas. She has served as a consultant for several organizations, including the World Bank, the US Department of State, the Grameen Foundation, IBM, and other private-sector clients.

Dr. Jennifer Spencer is an Associate Professor of International Business at George Washington University. Professor Spencer’s expertise lies in international corporate strategy, with a focus on the technology strategies of multinational enterprises, knowledge spillovers between firms, international entrepreneurship, and multinational enterprises’ investments into developing countries. She is on the editorial review board of the Journal of International Business Studies and Academy of Management Review, and has published articles in the top journals in the management, strategy, and international business fields, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of International Business Studies.

Ambassador Zamira Sydykova was born in 1960 in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. She graduated from the journalism faculty of Moscow State University and started working as a reporter for the popular youth newspaper, Komsomolets Kirgizii. In early 1992, immediately after Kyrgyzstan separated from the former Soviet Union, Ms. Sydykova founded her country’s first independent newspaper, Res Publica. As editor-in-chief at Res Publica, she led the struggle for a free press and an open society in Kyrgyzstan. Her unrelenting criticism of corruption and authoritarian tendencies in the country’s ruling elite resulted in her imprisonment and in repeated attempts to close her newspaper. For her valor in resisting the intimidation of the authorities and in championing the rights of the individual in Central Asia, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award by the Washington, DC-based International Women’s Media Foundation in 2000. Before assuming her ambassadorial post, Ms. Sydykova had traveled on numerous occasions to North America as a representative of the democratic aspirations of the people of Kyrgyzstan. In that role, she lectured at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and gave testimony to the U.S. Helsinki Commission and to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. In the wake of the democratic uprising in Kyrgyzstan in March, 2005, Ms. Sydykova was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the USA and Canada.

Dr. David Woolner is Senior Vice President of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park New York, and Associate Professor of History at Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, New York. A specialist in Anglo-American relations and U.S. foreign and economic policy under Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Woolner has delivered papers on FDR’s foreign and domestic policy in Canada, the United States, France, Russia, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Korea. His publications include a number of articles, op-ed pieces and reviews. He is the co-editor with Warren Kimball and David Reynolds of FDR’s World: War, Peace and Legacies (Palgrave, 2008); with Henry Henderson of FDR and the Environment (Palgrave, 2005); and with Richard Kurial of FDR, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945 (Palgrave, 2003). He is also the editor of The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace; Canada, Great Britain and the United States in 1944-1945 (Palgrave/St. Martin’s Press, 1998), and is the author of a book entitled The Frustrated Idealists: Cordell Hull, Anthony Eden and the Search for Anglo-American Cooperation, 1933-1938 (forthcoming from Praeger Press). In the fall of 2007, Dr. Woolner was awarded a Churchill Archives By-Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge in support of research he is conducting on Anglo-American relations during the latter stages of the Second World War. In June 1996, Dr. Woolner was named an Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Fellow by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Dr. Woolner holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from McGill University, and a B.A. summa cum laude in English Literature and History with a minor in Latin from the University of Minnesota. In addition to Marist College, he has taught at McGill University and the University of Prince Edward Island.