Past Keynote Speakers

Kenneth Feld
Chairman and CEO
Feld Entertainment, Inc.

Kenneth Feld is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the world's largest live entertainment company. After earning his degree in business management from Boston University, Kenneth immediately began working side by side with his father, Irvin Feld, and in 1984 Kenneth assumed the role of CEO. Under his watch, Feld Entertainment has grown exponentially, and now Kenneth proudly works with his two daughters in providing guests with magical experiences that create indelible memories lasting a lifetime.

Highlights of the Felds’ innovations include creating a second touring unit of Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey ®, modernizing the creative and business practices of the shows and launching Disney On Ice in 1981. This partnership with the Walt Disney Corporation marked the creation of a new genre, the art of telling a full-length story on ice. The Felds’ expertise in staging large-scale productions led to the creation of a Las Vegas extravaganza featuring master illusionists Siegfried & Roy ® at the Mirage Hotel, which has been credited for revolutionizing entertainment productions in Las Vegas.

Feld Entertainment’s live family spectaculars include Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ®, Disney On Ice, Disney Live! and the Doodlebops Live!. The company’s shows have played in 50 countries, covering six continents, and seen by approximately 25 million people annually. Kenneth has produced Broadway shows including Barnum, Big and Fool Moon. Fool Moon received a special Tony ® Award in 1999. Kenneth was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in July 2006, twenty years after his late father, Irvin, received the same honor.

Jim Koch
Founder and Chairman of the Board
The Boston Beer Company

From the moment Jim Koch began brewing in 1984, beer in America has never been the same. It took true passion and guts for Jim to take the road less traveled as he built The Boston Beer Company by hand. As the pioneer of the renaissance in American taste for flavorful, quality beer, this is a story of no ordinary Brewer.

After Harvard Business School, Jim joined the Boston Consulting Group in 1978 where he counseled corporate leaders. For six years, CEOs learned from Jim, and he learned from them.

In 1985, six weeks after the introduction in Boston, Samuel Adams was picked as “The Best Beer in America” in The Great American Beer Festival’s Consumer Preference Poll and went on to win this award an unprecedented four times. The Boston Beer Company has led the way in the microbrew revolution and has won more awards in international beer tasting competitions than any other brewery in the world.

Back in 1984, without a distributor, Jim was carrying bottles door-to-door to local bars in Boston. Today, the Boston Beer Company is the largest craft brewer and the sixth largest brewer overall in the United States. In fiscal 2005 revenues amounted to more than $250 million.

Jack Welch
Legendary Former CEO of General Electric

Jack Welch’s management success and skills during his many years at General Electric have been well published and documented. Welch turned the struggling slow moving giant of a company into a dynamic growth company revered by many.

During his 20 years of leadership at General Electric (GE) Welch increased the value of the company from $13 billion to several hundred billion. During his 20 year reign of General Electric, one of Americas largest and most well known companies Jack Welch's management skills became almost legendary.

He joined GE in 1960 and was elected Vice President in 1972 and Vice Chairman in 1979. In 1981, he became the eighth and youngest Chairman and CEO in the Company's 121-year history. He retired in the fall of 2001.

Since retiring from his role as GE Chairman in 2001 Welch has written a best selling memoir "Jack, Straight from the Gut" and consults with several Fortune 500 businesses.

Mr. Welch, a native of Salem, Massachusetts, received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1957 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.

Millard "Mickey" Drexler
Chairman and CEO
J. Crew

Millard "Mickey" Drexler is currently the chairman and CEO of J.Crew. In 2003 Mickey Drexler was brought in from Gap Inc to revive J. Crew's ailing retail fortunes. Mr. Drexler, known on fashion's Seventh Avenue as the 'prince of merchandising,' is working hard to lead the privately held J. Crew.

Prior to his experience at J.Crew, Drexler was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Gap Inc. He came to Gap Inc. in 1983 as president of the Gap division, and redefined the company as one of America's premier retailers. Under his leadership, the Gap Inc. brands -- Gap (including GapKids, babyGap and GapBody), Banana Republic and Old Navy -- have come to be known around the world for their exceptional style, quality, value and customer service. In 1987, having led Gap beyond the $1 billion sales mark and introduced the successful GapKids concept, he was named president of Gap Inc. In 1994, he directed the launch of Old Navy - now recognized as the first apparel retailer to generate $1 billion in annual sales in under four years. He assumed the position as President and Chief Executive Officer of Gap Inc. in 1995.

Drexler has devoted most of his professional life to the apparel business. Recruited by Bloomingdale's merchandising training program, Drexler found early success as a women's sportswear buyer. Over the next 10 years, he worked for both Macy's and Abraham & Straus, and in 1980 was hired as president and Chief Executive Officer of Ann Taylor.

Born and raised in New York City, Drexler spent the weekends and summers of his youth working for a local garment manufacturer. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and then -- while working various part-time jobs in retailing -- earned an MBA degree at Boston University.

Matthew Winkler
Editor-in-Chief
Bloomberg News

Matthew Winkler is editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, a global news service founded in 1990 when he joined Bloomberg L.P., a financial information company established in 1982.

Bloomberg News, which has grown to 1,750 editors and reporters in print and broadcast media in 101 bureaus throughout North America, Europe and the Far East, produces more than 4,500 stories daily on the economy, companies, governments, financial and commodity markets as well as sports, politics and policy. Winkler received the New York Financial Writers' Association 2003 Elliott V. Bell Award for making a significant long-term contribution to the advancement of financial journalism'' and he was named one of the Business News Luminaries of the Century by Mastercard/The TJFR Group. The Securities and Exchange Commission's ban on selective disclosure of corporate information, known as Reg FD, was prompted by Bloomberg News' reporting of market manipulation in the 1990s.

During the past 12 years, Bloomberg News has received more than 200 awards for the quality of its journalism, including: the Gerald B. Loeb, Overseas Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and Society of American Business Editors and Writers awards.

Bloomberg News is a content provider to a variety of print and broadcast media including: Markets magazine, a monthly for Bloomberg users; 350 newspapers in the U.S., Asia and Europe; Bloomberg Television and Radio, a 24-hour network reaching more than 60 million households in the U.S. and a dozen countries in their own languages.

Winkler is co-author of Bloomberg by Bloomberg, published April 1997 by John Wiley & Son. Between 1991 and 1994 while editing Bloomberg News, he wrote the Capital Markets column for Forbes magazine.

Between July 1980 and February 1990, Winkler was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and news services of its parent, Dow Jones & Co. At the Journal, he was responsible for credit markets, corporate finance and the securities industry from 1987 to 1990 in New York. He served as European financial correspondent for The Wall Street Journal/Europe and the Wall Street Journal in London from 1982 to 1987. Winkler was a New York-based reporter and assistant editor at The Bond Buyer (1978-1980); a public relations specialist for Gehrung Associates in Keene, N.H. (1977-1978) and a reporter for the Ohio-based Mount Vernon News (1976-1977).

Winkler was born in New York City in 1955 and is a graduate of Kenyon College with an A.B. in history and an honorary doctorate of laws. He is chairman of the board of trustees of The Kenyon Review, an international literary journal; an adviser to the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program at Columbia University and the business journalism program of the City University of New York; a director of the International Center for Journalists; a trustee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the board of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Lisa, an English teacher in the Maplewood South Orange, N.J. public school system, have three children and live in Maplewood.

David Soane
Chairman and Founder Alnis
CSO and Founder Nano-Tex

David Soane is the scientific founder of several successful high-technology start-ups in the Silicon Valley, including 2C Optics (now Rodenstock NA), ACLARA BioSciences (NASDAQ: ACLA), Alnis BioSciences, Cosmetica, and ZMS.

Formerly the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley, Dr. Soane is also the founder of the pioneering nanotechnology textile company, Nano-Tex, LLC (named best "Small Tech" company of 2003 by nanotechnology industry journal Small Times Magazine and featured in TIME Magazine's 2002 "Coolest Inventions of the Year"). He has over a decade of experience in the commercialization of nanotechnology and advanced polymer chemistry

David Soane received a B.S. (1973) in chemistry from the National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. (1978) in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. From 1979 to 1994, he was a full-time member of the faculty at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, where he published approximately 200 technical papers and two books (Polymers in Microelectronics and Polymer Applications for Biotechnology). His academic research spanned a wide range of topics, including rheology and polymer processing, membrane science and technology, polymerization reaction engineering, photolithography and interlayer dielectrics, polymer matrices for electrophoresis, non-linear optics of macromolecules, and novel microstructures/micro-sensors/micro-actuators. Since his departure from Berkeley in 1994, Soane has focused his energy on several high-technology start-ups including Soane Biosciences (now ACLARA Biosciences), Alnis, and recently, Nano-Tex. These ventures share a common theme: applying leading scientific discoveries to mature industries with ready, mass markets.

James Quigley
Chief Executive Officer
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP

James H. Quigley was named Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte in June 2003.

James was most recently Vice Chairman of the Firm and regional managing partner of our New York practice, with responsibility for service to companies in the metropolitan region of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

With nearly 30 years of experience, James has a distinguished track record of service to many of the firm’s leading clients in a range of industries including BASF, Huntsman Chemical, International Paper, ITT Industries, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, Monsanto Company, and Northeast Utilities. James was also National Industry Leader for the Firm’s Manufacturing Practice.

In addition to his client service responsibilities, James is a member of Deloitte’s Executive Committee and the Boards of Directors of both Deloitte & Touche and its global parent, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He has been Chairman of the U.S. Firm’s partner compensation and benefits committee and its mergers and acquisitions committee.

Since becoming a partner, James has held numerous leadership roles in Deloitte’s National Office, including assistant to the Chairman, Secretary to the Board of Directors and the Operating Committee, and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Chairman (now the Global Strategic Clients program).

James has served on numerous committees of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including the Environmental Issues Task Force, the Committee on Structure and Governance, the Future Issues Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee.

He has also been a member of the boards of the Business Council of New York State, the NYC2012 Olympic Committee, Professional Housing Resources, the Southwestern Area Commerce and Industry Association of Connecticut, and Junior Achievement of New York City. He has chaired the audit committee and served as treasurer for the National Council for the Better Business Bureau in Washington, D.C. James is actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America, and he has been a member of the task force on role and mission for United Way of Tri-State. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York and the Union League Club and the treasurer of the New Music Circle.

Lee A. Iacocca
Former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Chrysler Corporation

Lee A. Iacocca is a former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chrysler Corporation. He joined the company in November 1978 and retired in December 1992. He retired as a Director in September 1993 and continued to serve as a consultant to Chrysler until 1994.

Before Chrysler, Iacocca spent 32 years with Ford Motor Company. During his career at Ford, he rose from Management Trainee to President and Chief Operating Officer and a member of Ford’s Board of Directors. He served in those capacities until October 1978.

Iacocca is Chairman and CEO of EV Global Motors, a company he founded in 1997, to design, market and distribute light electric vehicles. He is Chairman of Iacocca Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to educational projects and the advancement of diabetes research. He is also Chairman of the Committee for Corporate Support of Joslin Diabetes Foundation and Chairman Emeritus of Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. Iacocca is a member of the Advisory Board of the nation’s largest reading motivation program, Reading is Fundamental, a non-profit organization founded in 1968.

In addition, Iacocca is an Honorary Trustee of Lehigh University. In 1987, he was named Founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University. Its goal is to make American industry more competitive in the international marketplace.

Iacocca is the author of two best-selling books, IACOCCA and TALKING STRAIGHT, and from 1985 to 1992, wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column. He has received honorary doctorate degrees from many distinguished colleges and universities, including his alma mater, Lehigh University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Duke University and the University of Southern California.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 1945 and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University in 1946.

Iacocca was born October 15, 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Ed Zander
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Motorola, Inc.

Ed Zander served as president and chief operating officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc. from January 1998 through June 2002, during which time he was responsible for executing Sun's vision of being the global leader in systems and solutions that make the "Net Work". He oversaw the company's day-to-day business operations, including hardware and software design and development; global sales, service and customer advocacy; worldwide manufacturing and purchasing; research and development, including the Office of the CTO; and worldwide marketing.

Zander, 55, played a pivotal role in Sun's success for more than 15 years. Known for his energy, competitiveness and business acumen, he is regarded by analysts and press as one of the most influential executives in the computer industry.

Prior to assuming the mantle of president and COO of Sun Microsystems, Inc., Zander served as president of Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC), running the multi-billion dollar network computing systems organization and managing all aspects of development, manufacturing sales,and marketing.

Earlier, as president of Sun's software group, Zander initiated a successful effort to develop and market Solaris into the UNIX industry's highest-volume licensed software environment for enterprise and network computing applications and the software backbone for much of today's Internet. In this position, he also led the company's network management, PC integration and software product suites.

The Brooklyn, NY, native joined Sun in October 1987 as vice president of corporate marketing, bringing the company a unique set of skills and expertise acquired over more than 25 years in the computer business, including extensive experience in engineering, marketing and executive management. He came to Sun from Apollo Computer, where he was vice president of marketing, developing Apollo's marketing strategy for the emerging workstation industry. Before joining Apollo in 1982, Zander spent nine years at Data General in several senior marketing management positions.

Zander earned a BSEE from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, and an MBA from Boston University. He serves on the Boards of Directors of the Jason Foundation for Education, Portal Software, Inc., Seagate Corp., and Netezza Corporation, and the Science Advisory Board of RPI and Advisory Board of the School of Management of Boston University.

Richard E. Dauch
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer & President
American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM)

Richard E. Dauch is a 36-year veteran of the automotive industry. He began his career in 1964 when he joined General Motors Corporation following graduation from Purdue University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial management and science.

Over the course of his 12 years with GM, he progressed from a college-graduate-in-training to the youngest plant manager in Chevrolet's history. In 1976, he joined Volkswagen of America (VWoA), where he served as group vice president of manufacturing operations and planned and created the manufacturing facilities for the first volume-automotive transplant in the United States. Dauch also served as a member of VWoA's Board of Directors.

Lee Iacocca recruited him to Chrysler Corporation in 1980 to resurrect the company's ailing manufacturing operations. As executive vice president of Worldwide Manufacturing, Dauch was known as a driving force behind Chrysler's manufacturing and quality renaissance with his visionary, no-nonsense, people-oriented, get-it-done management style. He planned and directed the implementation of Chrysler's world-recognized, just-in-time materials management system and three-shift assembly system capability. He also oversaw the planning and construction of the Chrysler Technical Center and Chrysler's newest assembly plants in Michigan: Jefferson North, in Detroit, and Sterling Heights Assembly.

In 1994, he co-founded American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) by teaming with two investors to purchase General Motors' axle, forge, and propshaft driveline assets. Today, AAM is one of the top 30 automotive suppliers in the world, and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol AXL.

Dauch's reputation as an innovative manufacturing strategist is widely recognized in North America and around the world. In addition to lecturing extensively on the subject of world-class manufacturing, Dauch has authored a book titled "Passion for Manufacturing," which is distributed in 80 countries in several languages and used extensively as textbook material at colleges and universities. He has been the recipient of numerous honors during his career. Most recently, he was named Detroit News Michiganian of the Year (1999), Crain's Detroit Business Newsmaker of the Year (1997), Michigan Manufacturers Association Manufacturer of the Year (1997), the Automotive Hall of Fame's Industry Leader of the Year (1996), and he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (1997). Dauch has also been elected to both the SME College of Fellows and the College of Fellows of the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD).

Dauch serves on the boards of directors of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, Detroit Renaissance, and the Economic Club of Detroit; and he is the chairman of the board of advisors for Heartland Industrial Partners. Dauch serves on the boards and committees of many community and civic organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, Detroit Area Council, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan. He has been instrumental in creating manufacturing and management curricula at several universities, including Purdue University, Lehigh University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A resident of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Dauch has been married for 40 years to his wife, Sandy. He is the father of four adult children and the grandfather of 14.