October 24 - 25, 2012, Allen Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Sally Blount became dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University on July 15, 2010.

Dean Blount, an internationally recognized expert in the fields of negotia- tion and behavioral decision-making, has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. In addition, she has significant experience incorporating international and social impact perspectives into business education.

Dean Blount received her Ph.D. in management and organizations from Kellogg in 1992 after earning a joint bachelor's degree from Princeton University's engineering and Woodrow Wilson schools in 1983.

From 1992 to 2001, Dean Blount was on the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was consistently one of the most highly rated MBA and executive education professors. Earlier in her career, she worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.

In 2001, Dean Blount joined New York University's Stern School of Business, where from 2004 to 2010 she served as the dean of its undergraduate college and vice dean of the school. At NYU, she was the Abraham L. Gitlow Professor of Management and Organizations and also held an affiliated appointment at the Wagner School of Public Service. In 2007, she was appointed by NYU's president and provost as their special adviser for global academic integration.

During her tenure at NYU, Dean Blount provided strategic direction for the school's most selective undergraduate college. She set fundraising records at the college, securing its first-ever $15 million gift, and led the college to become a recognized innovator in undergraduate business education. Under her leadership, the average SAT score of the entering freshman class increased by nearly 50 points, and student participation in global semester study abroad increased from 25 percent to 75 percent. She initiated several curricular innovations, including a required four-course social impact core and two global degree options. She also oversaw the Stern School's complete, donor-funded renovation of its undergraduate campus.

Dean Blount has taught courses in management, negotiations and ethics and is the author of more than 30 journal articles on those topics. She has received many academic awards, including two National Science Foundation grants, and has served on academic advisory boards at Princeton University, the National Science Foundation, the Economic Science Association and the Academy of Management.

She is a director of Abbott Laboratories and a member of the Commercial and Economic Clubs of Chicago and The Chicago Network. She serves on advisory boards for the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, the Chicago Innovation Awards, the Indian School of Business, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School, and Fundação Dom Cabral in Brazil.

Robert A. Eckert is chairman of the board of Mattel, Inc., the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys with $7 billion in annual sales. Eckert joined Mattel in May 2000 from Kraft Foods, Inc., the largest U.S.-based packaged food company in the world. A 23-year veteran of Kraft, he most recently served as its president and chief executive officer, a position he had held since October 1997. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all of Kraft's business units and for leading the company's policy decision-making board, the Operating Committee.

Previous positions include serving as group vice president of Kraft Foods, Inc. and being responsible for the company's Oscar Mayer Foods and North American Foodservice Division, along with the Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Technology, Marketing Services and Business Development staff functions. In addition, Eckert held the position of president of Oscar Mayer Foods, and in that role significantly accel- erated its performance with steady improvements in market share. He also oversaw the introduction of new varieties of Oscar Mayer Lunchables Lunch Combinations, which consistently delivered double-digit volume growth. Eckert joined Kraft Foods in 1977 and held a variety of marketing positions until he was named vice president, Strategy and Development for Kraft's Grocery Products Division in 1987, vice president, Marketing for Refrigerated Products in 1989, and executive vice president of Kraft Foods and general manager of the Kraft Cheese Division in 1990.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Arizona in 1976 and an M.B.A. in marketing and finance from Northwestern University in 1977.

Eckert serves on the McDonald's Corporation Board of Directors, the Levi Strauss & Co. Board of Directors, is a member of the Board of Visitors at The Anderson School at UCLA, the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Advisory Board at Northwestern University. He also serves as a member of The Busi- ness Council, the American Society of Corporate Executives, and the World Presidents' Organization in Los Angeles.

He received the School of American Ballet "Corporate Leadership Award" and the University of Arizona, Eller College "Lifetime Achievement Award." In 2002, Business Week named Eckert in its "Top Twenty-Five Managers of the Year" issue.

Bob Eckert will be sharing his thoughts about the future of marketing, based on his global field of view.

Dag Kittlaus is the co-founder and former CEO of Siri Inc. He is a serial innovator and consumer wireless internet veteran. Mr. Kittlaus has held leadership roles as Vice President of Consumer Internet Services at Scandinavian telecom giant Telenor Mobile, and several consumer product groups at Motorola including General Manager of xProducts and Founder and General Manager of Motorola's Interactive Media Group. Mr. Kittlaus conceived and launched Screen3, a breakthrough consumer mobile application currently used by millions of users and adopted by Cingular, China Mobile, and Telefonica.

Dag Kittlaus will talk about the combination of advanced technology and deep consumer insight that guided the development of Siri.

After serving on the faculties of the University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, and the Yale School of Management, Gregory S. Carpenter joined the faculty of the Kellogg School in 1990. He was named James Farley/Booz Allen Hamilton Professor of Marketing Strategy in 1999, founded the Center for Market Leadership in 2004, and elected chair of the marketing department in 2006.

Professor Carpenter's research on competitive marketing strategy has appeared in leading academic journals in addition to being featured by Harvard Business Review, Financial Times (London), and National Public Radio. The American Marketing Association has recognized his contributions to marketing with the William F. O'Dell Award, the Paul E. Green Award, the Donald R. Lehmann Award, the Marketing Science Institute/H. Paul Root Award, and his research has been cited in cases before the United States Supreme Court.

At the Kellogg School, he teaches marketing strategy, in the MBA, doctoral, and executive programs. He received Kellogg's Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award and the Kellogg Managers' Program voted him Outstand- ing Professor of the Year. He is one of a handful of Kellogg faculty to be recognized by BusinessWeek as an outstanding faculty in its Guide to the Best Business School.

In addition to research and teaching, he is an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute and he served as member of the board of advisors of Terlato Wine Group. He has advised many organizations on marketing strategy, including Advanced Micro Devices, Bacardi, Cadbury-Schweppes, Carnival Corporation, Coca-Cola, Cunard Lines, Diageo, Dow Chemical, Federal Reserve Bank, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, International Paper, Microsoft, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, Unilever, and Visa.

Professor Carpenter received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, and M.B.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University.

Daniel Diermeier is a faculty member at Northwestern University, holding appointments as the IBM Professor of Regulation and Competitive Practice of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management, as well as Professor of Political Science at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He is the co-founder of the North- western Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) and the Chairman of the Northwestern Global Health Foundation. He currently serves as director of the Ford Motor Company Center for Global Citizenship and academic director of the CEO Perspectives Program (Kellogg's most senior executive education program), a joint venture between the Kellogg School of Management and the Corporate Leadership Center.

Professor Daniel Diermeier's work focuses on political institutions, reputation management, political and regulatory risk, crisis management, and integrated strategy. He is author of Reputation Rules: Strategies for Managing Your Company's Most Valuable Asset, McGraw-Hill 2011, also translated into Japanese and Mandarin and co-author of A Behavioral Theory of Elections, Princeton University Press 2011. His work has been published in numerous academic journals in management, economics, and political science and has been featured globally in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Business Week, the Financial Times, Fortune, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, ABC News, the BBC, De Telegraaf and many others. He has been an advisor to some of the world's leading companies and organizations including Abbott Laboratories, Accenture, AHIP, Allianz, APCO Worldwide, Baker & McKenzie, Baxter International, BP, Boston Scientific, Cargill, the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, the Federal Governmnt of Canada, the City of Chicago (Office of the Mayor), CIBC, ConAgra, The Dallas Morning News, Edelman, Enbridge, Exelon, FMC, the FBI, W. W. Grainger, Groupon, HSBC, Hyatt, IFCO Systems, Intercontinental Exchange, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, McDonald's, Metro AG, Metro Cash & Carry International, Nicor, People's Energy, Owens-Il- linois, Perkins Coie, PricewaterhouseCoopers, REWE Group, Roche Diagnostics, Shell, Society of Actuaries, State Farm, Takeda, United Health Group and Women's Food Service Forum.

In 2001 he was named Kellogg Professor of the Year and in 2007 was the recipient of the prestigious Faculty Pioneer Award from the Aspen Institute, named the "Oscar of Business Schools" by the Financial Times. In December 2004 he was appointed to the Management Board of the FBI. He has also served as a senior strategic advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. View full biography here.

Daniel will speak about the global brand reputation management at the 2012 Summit.

Rory Finlay is based in the Chicago office of Egon Zehnder and leads the Firm's Consumer Products Practice Group globally. Mr. Finlay has over 25 years of experience in marketing well- known and iconic consumer brands around the world.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Mr. Finlay was Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., where he led the company's marketing function globally. He previously spent eighteen years with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, where he held various global positions, including two years based in Munich, Germany, leading Wrigley's European marketing operations across 30+ countries; and most recently as Vice-President & General Manager of Wrigley's Confectionary Brands. Finlay started his marketing career in the textile industry at Celanese Corporation in New York.

Finlay's consumer experience covers a wide spectrum of activities, from navigating and driving global brand strategy across geographies to launching new brands such as Orbit chewing gum at Wrigley; re-igniting iconic brands such as Canadian Club; and driving new category-breaking innovation, such as Red Stag by Jim Beam and Altoids dark chocolate dipped mints. He also has extensive experience in successfully implementing organizational design and processes across geographies to drive innovation and brand- building impact.

Finlay was recognized by Advertising Age as a Top 50 Marketer of the Year for his attention-getting work on Jim Beam. He has also won several prominent marketing and advertising awards, including Cannes Lions for Orbit chewing gum, Canadian Club whiskey and Altoids Sours. Finlay is a Scot and native of Great Britain. He holds a B.A. with Honors in Textile Management from the University of Leeds and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern

Science magazine has dubbed James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis, the co-authors of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, the "dynamic duo." Connected is the winner of a "Books for a Better Life Award" and has been translated into nearly twenty languages. It was named an Editor's Choice by the New York Times Book Review, and was featured in Wired, Oprah's Reading Guide, Business Week's Best Books of the Year, GOOD's 15 Books You Must Read, and featured as a cover story in the New York Times Magazine.

In Connected, the authors explain why emotions are contagious, how health behaviors spread, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, Connected overturns the notion of the individual and provides a revolutionary paradigm - that social networks influence our ideas, emotions, health, relationships, behavior, politics, and much more. It will change the way we think about every aspect of our lives. These startling revelations of how much we truly influence one another are revealed in the studies of Drs. Fowler and Christakis, which have repeatedly made front- page news nationwide.

Harvard PhD and professor at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. James Fowler's research interests and expertise include social networks, behavioral economics, evolutionary game theory, political participation, the evolution of cooperation, and the genetic basis of political behavior. A new kind of political scientist, Dr. Fowler melds the social with the biological, pushing the boundaries of his field to discover, for example, that smoking, obesity, and happiness spread within social networks, and that genes affect voting behavior.

Dr. Fowler was named "most original thinker" of the year by The McLaughlin Group, and his research on genopolitics (the study of the genetic basis of political behavior) with Chris Dawes has been featured in New York Times Magazine's "Year in Ideas," and his research on social networks with Nicholas Christakis has been featured twice in Time's "Year in Medicine," and in Harvard Business Review's "Breakthrough Business Ideas."

Dr. Fowler has published over 40 articles in a wide range of multidisciplinary and social science journals, including Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal, Journal of Politics, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Sociology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the American Journal of Political Science. His research has been covered in more than 2000 media outlets worldwide, including CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, Today, PBS Newshour, and The Colbert Report, and it has appeared on the front pages of The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. View full bio here.

Eric Leininger joined the Kellogg School faculty full time in September 2010, coming from McDonald's Corporation, where he was corporate senior vice president since 2004. He has been an affiliated faculty member at Kellogg since 2007.

Eric's teaching assignment includes the courses "Global Marketing" and "Global Initiatives in Management-China" across the full-time, part-time and executive MBA programs. Eric is also a regular contributor to other courses in the school's executive programs, including "Customer Insight Tools" and "Kellogg on Branding."

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Eric is associate director of the Center for Market Leadership. There, he is building the center's long-range plan, including developing executive education and establishing an annual Marketing Leadership Conference.

Eric was a member of McDonald's Senior Leadership Team, comprised of the business unit leaders and the global, C-suite functional leaders. His primary responsibility was consumer and business insights; additionally, he was responsible for McDonald's marketing training and global marketing planning. Jim Skinner, McDonald's CEO, says "connecting with our customers is the essence of what we do at McDonald's, and Eric's leadership and innovative work were invaluable in making that happen."

Eric joined McDonald's from Kraft Foods, where he had held a variety of marketing services and information positions for 11 years, including senior vice-president of marketing services, vice-president of consumer insights and strategy, and director of sales information and technology for the Kraft Foods sales organization. Prior to Kraft, he held leadership positions at ACNielsen and Quaker Oats.

He is a member of the Marketing Advisory Board for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Eric was a long-term member of the board of directors of the Association of National Advertisers, and served as treasurer and chair of its Finance Committee. He was also a long-term member of the National 4-H Council where he was vice-chair and a member of the Executive Committee.

Eric received his MBA from the University of Michigan, where he was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. He also holds a master's degree from the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Eric and Claire Leininger are the proud parents of two adult daughters.

As the chief marketing officer (CMO) of SAP, Jonathan Becher oversees the development and execution of marketing strategy across the globe. He champions SAP's focus on customers and world-class innovations, while continuing Marketing's focus on building the SAP brand. Jonathan reports to Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEOs of SAP AG. He is also part of the Global Customer Organization (GCO) leadership team.

Prior to taking the role of CMO, Jonathan most recently served as executive vice president of regional, solution, and partner marketing, during which he laid the foundation to enhance Marketing's impact on pipeline and revenue.

Jonathan joined SAP from its 2007 acquisition of Pilot Software, where he was president and chief executive officer. Prior to leading Pilot Software, he was CEO and president of Accrue Software, a publically-traded Web site analytics company, and president, CEO, and co-founder of NeoVista Software, a pioneer in the predictive analytics and data mining markets. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of senior roles at MasPar Computer Corporation.

Jonathan is an active participant in social media, author of the popular blog Managing By Walking Around, a frequent speaker at industry events, and a published author on multiple subjects. He is a board member for the Churchill Club, Silicon Valley's premier business and technology forum, and Revel Systems, an iPad point of sale solution.

Jonathan holds a master's degree in computer science from Duke University in North Carolina, and a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Virginia.

Nick Besbeas has over 20 years of experience in business strategy, consumer marketing and business -to-business marketing. He has led marketing organizations at some of the world's foremost consumer Internet brands, as well as successful start-ups.

Nick joined LinkedIn, the web's largest and most powerful professional network, in January 2011 as Vice President of Marketing. He drives all aspects of marketing, spanning dozens of offices across the globe.

Prior to joining LinkedIn, Nick was Senior Vice President of Marketing for Yahoo! Inc., one of the most popular starting points on the Internet. In this role, Nick oversaw Marketing, Insights and Customer Care for all of Yahoo!'s consumer products and services, including Yahoo! Mail, Search, Groups, Messenger, News, Music, Travel, Shopping and many more.

In 2000, Nick co-founded digiMine Inc. (now AudienceScience) and served as Chief Strategy Officer until 2005, running sales, marketing and account management. The company is a global leader in behavioral targeting and attracted top media companies as clients under Nick's leadership.

From 1993 to 2000, Nick established and led the Direct Marketing and Business Intelligence group at Microsoft, MSN. His pioneering work in MSN defined standards for capturing, tracking and applying informa- tion about customers' behavior online. During his tenure at Microsoft, he also served as Group Product Manager in the Business Applications division, where he played a key role in the launch of SQL, Office and several other Microsoft business products. Prior to Microsoft, Nick held leadership roles in several direct marketing firms, including Quill Corporation (a subsidiary of Staples) and The Signature Group.

Ms. Brink's is Vice President of Marketing for IBM's Global Technology Services. She has world wide responsibility for market management of the integrated technology services service product lines, managed and business process services, as well as leading market insights, channel enablement, channel marketing and program management She is also responsible for leading IBM's marketing & communications efforts in cloud computing.

Prior to this position, Diane was Vice President, World Wide Integrated Marketing Communications, where she had responsibility for the IBM brand, all advertising, media strategy & agency operations, direct & digital marketing, content management, event & sponsorship marketing. Diane is a former board member of the ANA.

Diane has held many senior marketing roles, including leading IBM's marketing's efforts in General Business. In this role, she was responsible for extending IBM's reach and participation in the segment through the introduction of IBM Express Advantage and the Express portfolio. She worked to develop IBM's strong ecosystem of business partners.

Ms. Brink executive leadership in sales, marketing and operations includes VP Marketing and Strategy for IBM Americas, VP Operations, Worldwide Systems Sales, VP Distribution Channels Marketing, VP Systems Sales, Director, Direct Marketing and ibm.com and General Manager of Mid Market in the Midwestern Area. She joined IBM in 1980 as a programmer.

Diane Brink is a board member to the Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center at Stony Brook University, and a board member to the Iona Preparatory School. Diane holds a BS in Computer Science from Stony Brook University and an MBA in Finance from Fordham University.

Betsy D. Holden is a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, working with clients across industries on strategy, marketing, innovation and board effectiveness initiatives. Betsy was formerly Co-CEO of Kraft Foods and CEO of Kraft Foods North America. At the time, Kraft Foods was the largest food company in North America and the second largest in the world.

She has over 30 years of experience in consumer goods with expertise in general management, strategy, marketing and innovation. In addition to her CEO role at Kraft, Betsy also held the positions of President, Global Marketing and Category Development; Executive Vice President with responsibility for Operations, IT, Procurement, R&D, and Consumer Insights and Communications; President of the Kraft Cheese Division; President of the Pizza Division; plus multiple line brand management assignments. She has a record of success in leading brand building, organic growth, acquisitions, global expansion, turnarounds, talent management, restructurings, and cost management.

Ms. Holden graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Education from Duke University and received an M.A. in Teaching from Northwestern University. Holden received a Masters of Management in Marketing and Finance from Northwestern's J. L. Kellogg School of Management, where she was name Valedictorian.

Betsy Holden has extensive board experience. She serves on the Boards of Diageo, The Tribune Company, Western Union, Duke University's Board of Trustees, and the Kellogg School of Management Dean's Advisory Board. Betsy also is a Senior Fellow of the Kellogg Innovation Network, President of the Board of Off the Street Club, serves on the Board of the Chicago High School for the Arts, the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Board of Trustees of Ravinia. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Network.

Andy leads a Global Digital Strategy Group across GE with a focus on driving stakeholder connection and commercial acceleration. The COE will drive first-class digital capabilities in areas including, strategy, lead gen, search, content, social media and customer engagement. In addition, the group focuses on training and development to help businesses gain marketplace understanding by driving scale, providing external perspec- tive and identifying customer points of relevance.

Prior to GE, Andy worked at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he was Director, Digi- tal Services, leading a Center of Excellence for all Digital activity including: digital strategy, on-line media, creative agency relationships, social media marketing, search engine marketing, standards & training. In this role, he led efforts to create scalable best practices by providing thoutership in themanagement and development of a wide range of on-line marketing principles, a pipeline of emerging media opportunities, and leading the digital medium towards accountability for Kraft brands.

Before joining Kraft, he worked at Send.com, the on-line gift company, as well as Dentsu Corp., Ammirati & Puris, and Lintas.

He is a frequent industry speaker and was recently named as one of the IMedia 25: Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators.

Andy graduated from Indiana University and currently lives in NY with his wife and 2 children.

Peter McDonough was appointed Diageo North America's Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer in December 2009. In this role, he serves as the senior leader for a diverse marketing team composed of brand marketing; consumer planning & research; digital & relationship marketing; event planning and a multifunction innovation group responsible for ideation; new product development; new technology platforms; consumer testing and external strategic alliances/partnerships.

In his previous role, Peter served as Diageo's General Manager of North American Innovation. In this role, he led the innovation team to become a significant growth driver of Diageo's overall business performance and directed the team to develop four of the top five best selling new spirit programs launched in the U.S. during 2009. (IRI Audit ; 52 Week Dollar Sales; 12/09)

Prior to joining Diageo in the fall of 2006, Peter served in a variety of leadership roles within the consumer package goods industry in North America and Europe. In addition to his commercial experience, he spent time in academia as a professor of marketing strategy in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In earlier work within consumer package goods, Peter was based in Geneva Switzerland where he served as Gillette/Proctor & Gamble's Vice President of European Marketing with responsibility for overseeing the brand management and marketing initiatives of the Duracell Battery and Braun Appliance operations in Western Europe.

Prior to his international posts, Peter served as Gillette's Vice President of North American Marketing where he was responsible for leading the brand management and trade marketing functions within the flagship Blade/Razor and Personal Care Business. While in this role his team launched industry leading brands such as Venus, Mach3Turbo, Right Guard Xtreme and multiple programs within shave preps, deodorants & antiperspirants.

In addition to his Gillette experience, Peter served as Director of North American Marketing at Black & Decker Power Tools where he was involved in launching the Dewalt Power Tool Company.

Peter is an alumnus of Cornell University and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business.

Graham Mudd is Head of Measurement Market Development at Facebook. Graham is responsible for developing Facebook's global partnerships with research and measurement companies as well as the company's strategy for providing data and insights to Facebook's developer community.

Prior to joining Facebook, Graham was Senior Vice President, Media & Entertainment Practice, at comScore. At comScore, Graham managed client relationships with a number of prominent Internet companies in the media and entertainment sectors, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Fox, Hulu, Disney and Glam Media. Prior to that, Graham worked in marketing and product strategy in Yahoo's Search division.

Graham holds an MBA with majors in Marketing, Strategy and Finance from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a B.S. with honors from Santa Clara University, with a major in Psychology.

Thomas F. O'Toole is President, Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC for United, the world's leading airline. In this role, O'Toole is responsible for leading MileagePlus, the world's largest travel loyalty program, in addition to United's cobrand card portfolio, customer relationship management systems, media business and related business initiatives.

Prior to his current position, O'Toole was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC for United. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of United Airlines. He joined United in early 2010.

Before joining United Airlines, O'Toole was Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer for Global Hyatt Corporation, where he spent nearly 14 years. He is married and has one son.

Dick Patton leads Egon Zehnder International's Global Marketing Officer Practice as well as the firm's Consumer Practice in the US. Mr. Patton partners with clients in board consulting, talent assessment and the recruitment of senior level executives in a spectrum of industries, including consumer goods and services, digital media, consumer financial services, technology, hospitality and retail.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Mr. Patton was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development with Affinnova, an MIT-affiliated technology company that provides innovation and new products consulting to large consumer companies.

Previously, Mr. Patton was a general manager and marketer with The Coca-Cola Company where he led a beverage business in North and South America with P&L responsibility, and managed several well known brands: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Nestea, Fresca and Tab. While with Coca-Cola, he launched five new products and won a variety of awards for his marketing initiatives. His work has been featured in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and (PBS) Frontline. He began his career in sales, merchandising and marketing with Frito-Lay, Inc.