Sheila Penrose is a Director of three corporate boards: McDonald's, Jones Lang LaSalle, and DataCard Group. She is Chairman of the Board of Jones Lang LaSalle, chairs two board committees and serves on five others. Sheila co-founded and co-chairs Corporate Leadership Center (CLC), a partnership between major corporations and academic institutions to augment and accelerate the development of corporate leaders and advance business leadership practices. Sheila formerly served on the boards of Nalco Chemical and eFunds Corp and was Executive Advisor to Boston Consulting Group. A frequent speaker on leadership and governance issues, she keynoted the Strategic Management Society's global conference. Sheila was the first woman named to Northern Trust Corporation's management committee and, from 1994 to 2000, President of Corporate and Institutional Services, a billion dollar business with client assets of $1.5 trillion in more than 80 markets worldwide. Under her leadership, the business was transformed from a product organization to one organized around client segments, and net income grew 17% annually. She represented Northern Trust with the investor community, oversaw several acquisitions and drove the bank's global expansion. Prior to Northern Trust Corporation, Sheila was an economic advisor to the British Treasury, a member of the negotiating team for the IMF agreement and advisor on budget policy and anti-inflation strategies in the aftermath of the world oil crisis in the 1970's. She began her career as a lecturer in Economics at Central London Polytechnic, United Kingdom. Sheila Penrose received her undergraduate degree in economics and graduate diploma in education from University of Birmingham, England. She also holds a Masters degree from London School of Economics and Political Science.
William D. Perez succeeded William Wrigley, Jr. II as CEO of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world's largest chewing-gum manufacturer. He is the first person outside the Wrigley family to head the 116-year-old company.
Previously, he succeeded Phil Knight as CEO of Nike, Inc and served from November 2004 until his announcement on January 23, 2006 that he was resigning from Nike due to disagreements with Nike founder and chairman Philip Knight over how to run the company. Previous to his position at Nike, Perez worked for eight years as president and CEO of S. C. Johnson & Son.
Bill Perez received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a graduate degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Erica Perreault is the Merchandising Director at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI. She joined Zingerman's in 2000, drawn by the fun atmosphere and her passion for sales. Initially on the retail service staff in the Deli, Erica was promoted to Deli Merchandising Manager in 2002. In this position she is responsible for the Deli's merchandising budget and the overall "Look and Feel" of the store, including displays, signage, promotional materials and menus. Each month Erica and her staff of two work with the 18 other Deli managers to implement a targeted promotional package that typically includes posters, flyers, vendor support, product tastings, dinners and demos.
Erica regularly teaches an internal staff class, Merchandising 101: Building Great Displays and works with ZingTrain clients who want to improve their organization's merchandising and display.
In early 2007, high school student Zachary Peskin founded Special People Helping Others, Inc (SpPHO) ¯ an organization designed to create meaningful opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to build self-esteem and social awareness by helping others.
Early on, Zachary observed his family and various practitioners interacting with his older brother, Adam, who is autistic. Zachary was keenly aware of Adam's eagerness to help friends, family and the community in various ways and the satisfaction and enthusiasm that Adam displayed at the completion of each activity. Helping and supporting others gave him joy ¯ from making pancakes for the family (an activity he learned at school) to helping his teachers prepare and clean up the classroom. Zachary also observed this eagerness to help others while conducting the Special Needs Tennis Program which he founded for children and adolescents with disabilities. Over the last few years, Zachary noted that the highlight of each participant's experience focused not necessarily on playing tennis, but on helping to pick up the tennis balls at the end of each game. Similar to the empowerment that all individuals feel when helping others, those with developmental disabilities experience these same feelings of worth and contribution. SpPHO is based on these observations and the larger premise that individuals with developmental disabilities can achieve exceptional benefits in personal growth by helping others, while simultaneously demonstrating their ability to be a positive force in our communities.
Zachary's efforts with SpPHO were recently recognized by WMTR-AM Radio (Cedar Knolls, NJ) with the Kids Who Rock Award. In addition to his commitment to SpPHO, Zachary is a USTA-ranked junior tennis player and a member of the Millburn varsity tennis team. He is the founder of the Special Needs Tennis Program for adolescents and children with disabilities, member of the Millburn High School Peer Leaders (Millburn, NJ) and an editor of The Miller, the Millburn High School newspaper. Zachary is an avid reader, particularly in the area of economics, and has conducted professor-supervised research related to the modeling of economic and social impacts of international exchange rate dynamics.
Donald Peskin has more than five years of management consulting experience and 20 years of Wall Street and investment experience including, most notably, as a Managing Director and Principal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ") where he served from 1988 to 1997. He is a three time recipient of the DLJ "Superachiever" award and is a member of the DLJ "Hall of Fame". At DLJ he was responsible for the Fixed Income Structured Finance Department and had selected responsibilities for various trading positions. Throughout his tenure at DLJ, Mr. Peskin was responsible for many significant innovations in the realm of structured products, some of which developed into multi-billion dollar markets. At DLJ he was frequently consulted by senior management regarding the structuring and valuation of complex securities.
Peskin's previous Wall Street experience included service at Dean Witter Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley & Co. He left DLJ in September 1997 to pursue private investment opportunities in finance, technology and related industries.
Donald Peskin is the founder of Short Hills Capital, LLC, a privately held investment vehicle. Short Hills Capital was a principal investor in Regions First Financial, a holding company with interests in the sub-prime auto marketplace, which were sold in 2004 to a public entity. Through Short Hills Capital, Mr. Peskin was a founding investor in Numismatic Funding, LLC a secured lender to rare coin dealers. In addition to his principal investment activities, Mr. Peskin has been a managing principal of Cognitive Capital Management, the general partner of the Cognitive Strategic Fund, a hedge fund of funds. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Ballard Petroleum LLC from 1997 until its acquisition by Alberta Energy Corp. in early 2001. He has been recently named to the Board of Directors of ioSemantics Corporation, a software firm that applies artificial intelligence to the management of large-scale software development.
Donald Peskin holds a BS with Honors, a Masters of Engineering in Operations Research and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Cornell University.
H. Christopher Peterson is a professor in Agribusiness Management at Michigan State University. Prior to joining the faculty at MSU, Peterson served on the faculty and as chairperson for the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Juniata College.
Christopher Peterson received his Bachelor's degree from Juniata College, his MBA from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Bruce Peterson is Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager of perishables for Wal-Mart.
Based in Wal-Mart's home offices in Bentonville, AR, Peterson oversees all meat, produce, dairy, frozen, floral, bakery and commercial bread operations for Wal-Mart Stores, its domestic Supercenters and the new Neighborhood Markets.
Bruce Peterson received his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan.
Hans Pfister is the President and co-owner of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality.
He brings almost 20 years of experience in the hotel business in all capacities from trainee to General Manager, and currently focuses on marketing, finance, strategy and new projects. Born and raised in Germany, Hans' career began with the European tradition of apprenticeship as an introduction to the industry, rounding out his education and training with a degree from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration and experience in various properties in Europe, Asia, North- and Latin America.
Hans Pfister has been on the board of directors of the Costa Rican hotel chamber (CCH) for five years and served as representative of the private sector (CANATUR) in the Marketing Committee of the Costa Rican Tourism ministry (ICT) for over four years.
Hans Pfister received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
Hugh Simms is a Los Angeles designer with a signature "Ivy League Grit" style and a belief that intelligence can come equipped with a strong arm and a hasty mind. He draws from his personal experiences to design for the Modern Renaissance Man. As CEO and Head Designer of HUGH SIMMS, Simms is focused on developing the company into a global brand with the eventual launch of a full line of men's, women's, and children's apparel.
Simms's first release, The Caulfield Collection, features neckwear with classic English prep school patterns, custom hand-dyed and disheveled patchwork and a fabric switch at the tail of the tie.
A believer of American craftsmanship, Simms prides himself on having his accessories and garments handmade in Los Angeles and being part of the fashion revival of the once thriving LA manufacturing industry.
After serving as General Manager for Phillips Beach Plaza Hotel in Ocean City, Maryland, Simms deep love for design lead him to become an independent designer working on various projects. His entrepreneurial family, and strong desire to showcase his talents and designs, led him to Los Angeles where he attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM).
Hugh Simms received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. A distant grandson of Lord Baltimore, founder of Maryland, Simms prides himself on his East Coast roots.
Megan Phillips is a Graduate Research Assistant at Colorado State University. Phillips's comments are from the November 2010 Strategic Marketing Conference sponsored by the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.
Alan Pike teaches management writing and oral communication at the Johnson School. He has taught writing and other communications courses at various schools throughout Cornell, at Syracuse University, and has consulted with corporations on management communications. Professor Pike also directs the outdoor leadership/team development program and has presented papers on communications and leadership issues. Note: Alan Pike, 65, a senior lecturer in communication who taught generations of business leaders at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, died of heart failure Jan. 7, 2006 in his Ithaca home.
Leland Pillsbury is a venture capitalist with a special focus on the hospitality industry. He is the Founder, Co-Chairman and CEO of Thayer Lodging Group, a privately held hotel real estate investment firm which ranks among the top 5% of top performers among all private real estate firms. He is also the cofounder and chairman of TIG Global, an internet marketing company serving over 1,500 hotels around the world, cofounder and chairman of EMC Venues, the largest resort and conference center marketing representation firm in the country, cofounder and chairman of Thayer Insurance Group, providing specialized insurance coverages to hotel and hospitality firms, cofounder of HUBS1, providing the only Global Distribution System and central reservations systems to the domestic Chinese hotel and airline industries, and cofounder of HQuant, a financial and analytical firm serving the hospitality industry and publisher of the HQuant Lodging Real Estate Index. He is a principal and director in several other companies both inside and outside the hospitality industry.
Pillsbury launched Grande Heritage Hotels in 1989 and sold the company in 1991, after serving 20 years at Marriott International, where he was Marriott's youngest Executive Vice President and corporate officer. Mr. Pillsbury served as the head of Strategic Planning for the lodging business, participated in the acquisition of a time sharing business, led the venture team that developed and launched Fairfield Inns, acquired the Residence Inns Company, and introduced several brand extensions. During this period, Marriott experienced a four fold increase in sales, a five fold increase in profits, and an eight fold increase in its market capitalization. At the time of his departure, he was responsible for $1 billion in annual capital development projects and over 18,000 employees. After his departure, he participated in the acquisition of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company by Marriott International. In 1991 he founded Thayer Lodging Group.
Leland Pillsbury received his BS degree from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration and an Executive MBA from Northwestern University's J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.