September 25 - 26, 2013, 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.

After serving on the faculties of the University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, andthe Yale School ofManagement, Gregory 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 Outstanding 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.

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 since 1997.

With Professor Gregory Carpenter, Eric leads The Kellogg Chief Marketing Officer Program. This by-invitation-only program was the first university-based development experience for newly appointed and rising Chief Marketing Officers. The program has attracted attendees from leading organizations, including Cisco, FedEx, General Motors, Hyatt, IBM, John Deere, Kimberly-Clark, Mattel, SAP, and The Cleveland Clinic. Eric and Professor Carpenter also lead Kellogg’s annual Marketing Leadership Summit in partnership with McKinsey and Egon Zehnder.

His MBA teaching has included Global Marketing, Marketing of New Products and Services, and Global Initiatives in Management-China. Eric is a regular contributor to Kellogg’s executive programs, such as “Kellogg on Branding.” He also leads custom executive education programs for a diverse group of companies, including Abbott Labs, Abbvie, and U.S. Cellular.

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 the executive sponsor for McDonald’s marketing training. Jim Skinner, McDonald’s CEO from 2004-2012, said, “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 held a variety of marketing services and information positions for 11 years, including senior vice-president of marketing services. Prior to Kraft, Eric held leadership positions at ACNielsen and Quaker Oats.

Leading companies draw on Eric’s expertise in building leading-edge consumer insights and marketing capabilities. Recent consulting assignments include Abbvie, Kimberly-Clark, Mattel, Merck Consumer Care, Ulta, and U.S.Cellular.

Eric received his MBA from the University of Michigan, where he was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. He also holds a MA from the University of Virginia and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude.

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

Jamie Rosman is the Executive Director of the Markets and Customers Initiative at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In this role, she partners with faculty leadership to grow Kellogg’s reputation for thought leadership in this area.

Prior to stepping into this role, Jamie served as Kellogg’s Chief Marketing Officer. In this position, she oversaw all domestic and international marketing for the school’s degree and non-degree programs. She was responsible for the launch of a new brand advertising campaign and for introducing the school’s 5- year strategic plan. In addition, Jamie sits on the University’s change management committee and was a member of a University-wide branding taskforce.

Before coming to Kellogg, Jamie spent over a decade at Leo Burnett Company in the strategy and planning group working on fortune 500 brands including Nintendo, Hallmark and Kellogg Cereal. She also spent several years working at a digital marketing agency before moving into higher education marketing where she spent 8 years as the Executive Director of Communications at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Public Policy. Her passion for strategy and communications on behalf of nonprofits has included work for the Botanic Gardens, the Chicago Children’s Museum and the Chicago Community Trust.

Jamie holds a master’s from the University of Chicago and a BA in Psychology from Oberlin College.

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

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Rory 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 as Vice-President & General Manager of Wrigley’s Confectionary Brands. Rory started his marketing career in the textile industry at Celanese Corporation in New York.

Rory 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.

Rory is a Scot and native of Great Britain.

Dick Patton co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Marketing Practice Group. Mr. Patton partners with clients in board consulting, talent assessment and the recruitment of senior level executives in a spectrum of industries, including technology, digital media, consumer goods, services, consumer financial services, 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. Mr. Patton is a Director on the Board of Generations Incorporated.

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 serves on the Boards of Diageo PLC, Western Union, Catamaran Corp., the North American Advisory board of Schneider Electric, Duke University’s Board of Trustees, and the Kellogg School of Management Executive Committee and Global Advisory Board.. Betsy also is a Senior Fellow of the Kellogg Innovation Network, President of the Board of the 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.

Meghan Busse joined the Kellogg faculty in 2008 as an Associate Professor of Management and Strategy. Prior to that, she was on the faculty of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and at the Yale School of Management. She has taught both economics and strategy, and teaches the core strategy course at Kellogg.

Professor Busse’s research focuses on market structure and competition, with particular interest in pricing and price discrimination. She has studied these issues in a variety of industries, including cellular telephones, airlines, and advertising. Her areas of current research interest are energy economics and the U.S. automobile industry; her study of the auto industry is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. These two interests are combined in work she is doing with two co-authors investigating how gasoline prices affect people’s choices about what car to buy.

In more lighthearted research, Professor Busse used economic models to predict how many medals countries should win in the Olympics.

Professor Busse received her PhD in economics from MIT.

Moran Cerf is an assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management and the neuroscience program at Northwestern University. Additionally, he holds a position at the UCLA department of neurosurgery, where he works with patients undergoing brain-surgery to study behavior, emotion and decision making, by directly recording the activity of individual nerve cells using electrodes implanted in their brain.

Dr. Cerf holds a Ph.D in neuroscience from Caltech, as well as an MA in Philosophy and a B.Sc in Physics from Tel-Aviv University.

His research uses methods from brain science to understand the underlying mechanisms of our psychology. He has published works that address questions such as: "How are conscious percepts formed in our brain?", "How can we control our emotions?" and "Which brain mechanisms determine if we find content interesting and engaging?". Recently, his focus has been on the neural mechanisms that underlie decision-making, thereby offering a new perspective on predicting future choices and investigating how much free will we have in our decisions.

He holds multiple patents and his works have been published in wide-circulation journals such as Nature and Science, as well as Scientific American Mind and leading neuroscience journals.

Additionally, his work has been featured in numerous media and cultural outlets such as CNN, Wired, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR, Time, MSNBC, Slate.Com, Gizmodo, New Scientist, the Venice Art Biennial and dozens of others. Dr. Cerf has made much of his research accessible to the general public via his public talks at Ted-Ed, PopTech, Google Zeitgeist, the Davos World Economic Forum, DLD and more.

He received several awards and NIH grants for his research, including the Instructional improvement grant, and the prestigious president scholarship for excellent PhD, along with a number of private fundings.

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Cerf spent nearly a decade in industry, holding managerial and development positions in computers security (Check Point, Imperva), pharmaceutical (Pharmaco-Kinesis), telecom (TTI Telecom), Fashion (Vivvva), software development (Log-On), and inventions (S.I.T.).

Named BtoB Magazine’s Marketer of the Year in 2011 and one of its Best Marketers for six consecutive years, Eduardo Conrado is senior vice president, marketing & IT, for Motorola Solutions. In this role, he is fusing the marketing and IT organizations to enable the company’s drive toward a customer-centric strategy.

This is an extension of the customer-centric marketing approach envisioned by Conrado that refocused the company’s messaging from the traditional product, price, place and promotion to emphasize solutions, education, value and access. He ensures Motorola Solutions is positioned as a provider of integrated solutions, as opposed to singular products.

Conrado also is the thought leader behind Motorola Solutions’ evolution to a purpose-driven company. The company’s purpose – to help people be their best in the moments that matter – has become a rallying cry for its employees and the foundation for an integrated marketing campaign that focuses on the power of Motorola Solutions’ products to perform under the high-pressure moments that are commonplace to its government and enterprise customers.

Throughout his 20-year career at Motorola, Conrado has moved through a variety of key marketing leadership roles in the company’s paging, cellular, satellite, cable and wireless networks, government, networks and enterprise mobility businesses. He has had multiple international business and marketing assignments in a range of consumer and commercial segments across Motorola.

Conrado earned a master’s degree in business administration from ESADE in Barcelona, Spain; a master’s degree in international management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University. He is past national board chairman of the Business Marketing Association, is on the board of directors for the Association of National Advertisers and the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, and on the technology committee for the Executives’ Club of Chicago.

Motorola Solutions is a leading provider of mission-critical communication products and services for enterprise and government customers.

Kent joined Kellogg in September 2002. For eight years before that, he was on the marketing faculty at London Business School. From 2000 – 2002, he was also Director of the London Business School Centre for Marketing, a privately funded consortium that facilitates interaction and collaboration between marketing practitioners and academics.

Kent teaches marketing management and brand management to MBA and executive audiences. In 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010, he earned the Chairs' Core Teaching Award in marketing at Kellogg. He was a finalist for Kellogg professor of the year in 2010 and was a finalist for the London Business School best teaching award in 1999.

Over the past fifteen years, Kent has worked on marketing issues with several consumer goods and services companies, including Hilton International, Microsoft, British Airways, Sony, Exxon/Mobil, Electronic Arts, Nissan, and Diageo (Smirnoff & José Cuervo). He has also collaborated on marketing projects with McKinsey & Company and their clients.

In the 1980s, Kent spent four years working in advertising (including two years at a division of Saatchi & Saatchi), during which time he focused on financial services, recruitment advertising, and high-tech accounts.

Kent researches the role of fabrication and fact in consumption. His research looks at such topics as the benefits and drawbacks of trusting a business partner, how consumers decide whether something is authentic or fake, and what happens when a "true" friend tries to sell you something. In a related research area, Kent studies direct selling, which is sometimes known as “pyramid selling” or “network marketing.”

Jeff Jacobs is a Principal in McKinsey's Chicago office and a leader in the Marketing and Sales Practice where he focuses extensively on Marketing Procurement. Jeff has over 20 years of global line marketing and sales, brand strategy, innovation, and consulting experience. He has worked in consumer packaged goods, financial services, high-tech and pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining McKinsey, Jeff spent 10 years in line-management roles including being a Business Director for V8 beverages and a Global Brand Equity Director for Gatorade. Jeff has a B.A. from Northwestern University and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management where he focused on marketing and organizational effectiveness.

John Kennedy is Vice President Marketing, IBM Global Business Services. In his current position, John is responsible for the marketing and demand generation for IBM’s business services division, including consulting, alliances and application management services.

Previously, John was Vice President, Corporate Marketing where he was responsible for IBM’s Brand development and marketing program execution on a global basis. This included responsibility for leading IBM’s “Smarter Planet” agenda and a range of other global enterprise wide initiatives.

John has also held marketing leadership positions in IBM Americas, IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific. John first joined IBM in 1996 as a Product Marketing Manager in IBM’s PC business in Raleigh, NC.

Before IBM, John was with Procter & Gamble, where he worked in Brand Management within the Laundry and Cleaning products division. John started his career with Nationsbank (now Bank of America) where he was a credit officer focusing on financial institutions and securities.

John serves on the Boards of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Business Marketing Association (BMA). In 2010, he was named “B2B Marketer of the Year” by B2B Magazine.

John received undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he also serves on the Board of Visitors. John received his MBA from Harvard University.

John can be followed on Twitter @johnlkennedy

Dr. Knight received a degree in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, an MD from Northwestern University Medical School, did Neurology training at UC San Diego and Post-Doctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He was a faculty member in the Department of Neurology at the UC Davis School of Medicine from 1980-1998. Dr. Knight moved to UC Berkeley and served as Director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute from 2001 until 2011. Recently he helped found the Center for Neural Engineering and Prosthesis and the Center for Child Development at UC Berkeley. Dr. Knight has twice received the Jacob Javits Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for distinguished contributions to neurological research, the IBM Cognitive Computing Award, the German Humboldt Prize in Neurobiology, the Neurobionics Prize for contributions to Brain Machine Interface research and the Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. His work focuses on cortical mechanisms of behavior with a focus on the role of frontal cortex in organized behavior.

Dara Krueger is Senior Marketing Director at the Cleveland Clinic Health System leading service line marketing strategy for oncology, urology, woman’s health and digestive disease services as well as the Referring Physician Center and International operations.

Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, she was at KeyBank in various marketing and product roles. Dara led Retail Bank Marketing for 7 years. In that position, she was instrumental in developing a national consumer segmentation approach.

During her time at KeyBank, Dara broadened her experience beyond marketing and participated in several large-scale initiatives from enterprise-wide expense reduction to revenue driving programs. At Cleveland Clinic, she has driven marketing process improvements that include annual marketing plans and routine business reviews. These tools are now the foundation for successful, volume-driving programs in an industry where marketing is sometimes relegated to events and local awareness tactic. Dara brings more than 20 years of marketing strategy and communications experience and holds at BA from Miami University and MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Dara participated in the “inaugural” class of the Chief Marketing Officer Program at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Dara is a life-long Clevelander. She is active on the advisory board of Metro Catholic School, an alumna advocate for Magnificent High School and a volunteer catechist at Christopher Church in Rocky River.

She is a creative and accountable marketing executive with experience leading strategic priorities, messaging and programming. Working successfully across a complex service organization is a challenge Dara meets daily knowing that with alignment to business leadership, a keen understanding of the customer, and an inspired team, every day and every change is a possibility.

John Livingston, a McKinsey & Company Director, is a leader of the Firm’s Marketing & Sales and Consumer Packaged Goods practices. Over the past 20 years, he has served a broad range of clients across industries, primarily on strategy, commercial sales and marketing issues, as well as energy efficiency and alternative energy. John is also one of the Firm's leaders in the area of Big Data. He has served clients across retail, telecom and industrial companies on how best to leverage their data for greater insights and new value creating business models. He co-authored a recent McKinsey compendium on opportunities in Big Data. His particular areas of interest are in how data can be leveraged to bring greater innovation in product and service development.

John has deep global experience. He helped McKinsey open its office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the mid-‘90s. From 1999-2002, he helped grow our Asia practice, living in Singapore. He served tech and communications clients in India, China, and Korea, and across Southeast Asia. John graduated in 1993 with a JD/MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management/Northwestern University School of Law and in 1989 with an AB from Princeton University with honors. He serves on multiple civic institutions’ boards including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. He is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a fellowship that selects 20 business and civic leaders from around the world each year to participate in an annual program to expand leadership perspectives and experiences.

He lives in Winnetka, Illinois with his wife Dawn and three children.

Harit Talwar is President – U.S. Cards, for Discover Financial Services and as a member of the company’s Executive Committee plays a key role in driving overall strategy. He regularly represents the company to key shareholders, analysts, regulators and at important industry forums. He is a senior business leader in global financial services with over 25 years of experience in cards, retail banking & payments in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Mr. Talwar was Executive Vice President of Discover Network where he oversaw business model transformation and rapid growth, including the acquisitions of PULSE, a leading debit/ATM network; Diners Club International, a global payments network; and strategic partnerships with China UnionPay and JCB – leading networks in China and Japan, respectively. Before that, Mr. Talwar was Managing Director of Morgan Stanley’s Consumer Banking Group International. Prior to that, Mr. Talwar spent 15 years at Citigroup working in India, the Middle East, the United States and in Europe. During this time, he held a number of senior roles including general management and country management positions in cards, loans and retail banking.

His involvement with developing start-up businesses, driving business acquisition/integration and managing large/global businesses has enabled him to obtain diverse experience by geography, product groups, functions and business areas.

Mr. Talwar holds a B.A. Hons Degree in Economics from Delhi University in India and an M.B.A. from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahemdabad. He is on the Governing Committee of the Chicago CMO Summit and trustee of the American India Foundation. Being interested in causes related to education and children/women empowerment, he has also held various leadership positions with the American School of Warsaw, Poland; the College of Lake County, Illinois; Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois; and Pratham UK.