Thomas J. Christensen
Thomas J. Christensen is Professor of Public and International Affairs and Director of the China and the World Program at Columbia University. He arrived in 2018 from Princeton University where he was William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War, Director of the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program, and faculty director of the Masters of Public Policy Program and the Truman Scholars Program. From 2006-2008 he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with responsibility for relations with China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. His research and teaching focus on China’s foreign relations, the international relations of East Asia, and international security. His most recent book is Lost in the Cold War: The Story of Jack Downey, America’s Longest-Held POW (Columbia Univ. Press, 2022). His earlier book, The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power (W.W. Norton) was an editors’ choice at the New York Times Book Review, a “Book of the Week” on CNN”s Fareed Zakaria GPS, and the Arthur Ross Book Award Silver Medalist for 2016 at the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Christensen has also taught at Cornell University and MIT. He received his B.A. with honors in History from Haverford College, M.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, as co-editor of the International History and Politics series at Princeton University Press, and as a member of the Academic Advisory Committee for the Schwarzman Scholars Program. He is currently the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Nancy B. Tucker and Warren I. Cohen Book Series on the United States in Asia at Columbia University Press. Professor Christensen is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Non-Resident Senior Scholar at the Brookings Institution. He was presented with a Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of State.
Abby Joseph Cohen, CFA
Abby Joseph Cohen is Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. She was previously a longstanding partner and chief U.S. investment strategist at Goldman Sachs. She was also president of the Global Markets Institute at Goldman Sachs, which provides research on the intersection of economics, public policy, and financial markets. Abby served on the firm’s Partnership Committee, which oversees the development of future leaders. She was also a senior champion for the internal Disability Interest Forum and the firm’s liaison to the National Defense University of the U.S. Department of Defense. Abby joined Goldman Sachs in 1990, was named partner in 1998, and retired in 2021. She began her career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
Abby is a presidential councillor at Cornell University, where she chairs the steering committee for the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute for Innovation at Cornell Tech and is a life overseer of Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a member of the board executive committees of the Brookings Institution and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she previously served as board chair. She is a former board chair of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, which awarded her the Distinguished Service Award. She has been an advisor to the endowment investment committees of several not-for-profit institutions, including Cornell University, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Opera. She previously served as vice chair of the board of the New York Economic Club, and on the national board of the Smithsonian Institution. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She was a member of the Obama White House-appointed Innovation Advisory Board for Economic Competitiveness.
Abby earned degrees in economics from Cornell University and the George Washington University. She has received three honorary doctorates, including one in engineering related to her background in computer science. Abby is recognized as a thought leader in U.S. portfolio strategy and was previously ranked No. 1 by Institutional Investor and Greenwich Associates. Her name has appeared on lists of the most influential individuals in financial services compiled by Barron’s, Fortune and other publications. Her career is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study, a Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover story, a New York Times feature article, and a profile in The New Yorker, including original cartoon.
Peter Coy
Peter Coy writes about economics for the Opinion section of The New York Times. His newsletter for Times subscribers appears three times a week. Before joining The New York Times in July 2021, he spent nearly 32 years writing for BusinessWeek and its successor, Bloomberg Businessweek.
Mr. Coy joined BusinessWeek in 1989 as telecommunications editor. He became technology editor in 1992 and associate economics editor in 1997, before being named economics editor in 2001. He came to BusinessWeek from the Associated Press in New York, where he had served as a business news writer since 1985. Before that Mr. Coy was a correspondent in the AP Rochester bureau. He began his career at the AP in 1980 as an editor in the Albany bureau. Prior to that, Mr. Coy was a reporter for the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican.
Mr. Coy holds a B.A. in history from Cornell University.
Wafaa El-Sadr
Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr is the founder and director of ICAP and an international expert in infectious diseases and public health with extensive experience in epidemiology and research on the prevention and management of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and emerging infections, among others. She is also the director of Columbia World Projects and director of the Mailman School's Global Health Initiative (GHI), which mobilizes the university community to address critical challenges in global health.
For over four decades, she has advocated for families and communities most impacted by health challenges and championed a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to confronting the global epidemic. Based at Columbia University, she leads ICAP's portfolio of projects in more than 30 countries and manages a global team of over 2,000 staff. Under her leadership, ICAP has become a global leader in addressing global health challenges and health systems strengthening.
Dr. El-Sadr began her career as the HIV epidemic took hold in the United States. As chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harlem Hospital, she developed successful methods for responding to HIV/AIDS through groundbreaking research and innovative models of care in her own community. Dr. El-Sadr became a leader in the global fight against HIV by arming health care systems around the world with effective strategies for confronting the impact of various health challenges and leveraging investment to strengthen health systems. She is the principal investigator for numerous ICAP-led research initiatives and a principal investigator of the NIH-funded HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN).
Dr. El-Sadr received her medical degree at Cairo University, a master's in public health (epidemiology) from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and a master's in public administration from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She joined the faculty of Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988 and became a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Mailman School of Public Health. In 2013, she was appointed University Professor, Columbia's highest academic title. She also holds the Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair in Global. She is a MacArthur fellow, as well as a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Council for Foreign Relations, and the African Academy of Sciences.
Marie Ffolkes '01
Marie Ffolkes is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axxelist LLC, a technology real estate company, where she leads the company in executing its mission and strategy. She recently served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of TriMark USA, LLC, a $2.1B private equity company, which provides design services, equipment, and supplies to the food services industry. She serves on the Boards of two publicly traded companies - Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO ~$176B) and Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS ~$8.4B), and one private equity company Colson Group Holdings, LLC. She chairs the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and serves on the Compensation Committee, the Sustainability Committee and has served on the Audit Committee for 4+ years.
Previously, Marie spent five years as President Americas, Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE: APD $12.7B) where she was responsible for the largest and most profitable P&L ($4B) growing EBITDA by +1700bps. She rose through roles in P&L, operations, pricing, and finance holding executive and senior management positions at Tenneco (4+ yrs), Johnson Controls International plc (~9 yrs), and GE Healthcare / GE Capital (8 ½ yrs). Marie has global and cultural experiences through working and living in China, South Korea, Brazil, Japan, Europe and the U.S.
Ms. Ffolkes has extensive experience in building, scaling and driving revenue and profit growth as well as restructuring in multi-billion operations and international markets across engineering, production and operations in various sectors such as energy, industrial gases, automotive, electronics, power solutions, and JIT manufacturing.
She earned an MBA from Columbia Business School with distinction and a B.S. from City University of New York, graduating magna cum laude. She graduated GE’s Financial Management Program and is a certified Master Black Belt.
Ms. Ffolkes is recognized by Fortune Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, WomenInc. and Savoy Magazines as one of the Most Powerful Women in Corporate America and as one of the Most Powerful Board Members in Fortune 500 for the past 5 years.
Glenn Hubbard
Glenn Hubbard was dean of Columbia Business School from 2004-2019, is Director of The Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business, and is the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School.
Under his leadership as dean, Hubbard oversaw the enhancement and expansion of nearly every aspect of Columbia Business School. He launched countless initiatives to bridge academic theory with the practice of business; and reignited engagement of the School’s 46,000 global alumni community. He guided the expansion of three new extensions of the School’s Executive MBA program; launched four new master’s degrees; and supported the development of curricular innovations in real time, such as the launch of the School’s flagship Immersion Seminars and Master Classes. A prolific fundraiser, Hubbard raised more than $1 billion for Columbia Business School, including more than $500 million for the School’s future home on Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus.
Recognizing the benefits that can come from being a part of an interconnected, research-oriented University, Hubbard also bolstered strategic partnerships and programs across the University. Under his leadership, Columbia Business School helped launched numerous joint initiatives, including The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy; The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; and Entrepreneurship at Columbia, including initiatives such as the Columbia Startup Lab and Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Columbia.
In addition to his prodigious career in academia, Hubbard has worked at the intersection of the private, government and nonprofit sectors and has been actively engaged in national and international economic policy issues. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Hubbard as chairman of the the Economic Policy Committee, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international economic and trade organization where he served from 2001 until 2003. He is co-chair of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, and previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, United States Treasury. He is a past chair and current Centennial Society Member of the Economic Club of New York.
In the corporate sector, Hubbard serves as Chairman of the Board for MetLife, Inc. and the BlackRock Fixed-Income Funds Board. He also serves on the board of TotalEnergies.
Hubbard received his AM and PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1983 and has held faculty or visiting faculty positions at Northwestern, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, in addition to Columbia. Hubbard received his BA and BS degrees summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles in economics and finance, He is the author of three popular textbooks, as well as co-author of “The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty,” “Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America,” and “Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System.” His commentaries appear in Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, Nikkei, and the Daily Yomiuri, as well as on television and radio.
Glenn Hubbard was dean of Columbia Business School from 2004-2019, is Director of The Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business, and is the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School.
Under his leadership as dean, Hubbard oversaw the enhancement and expansion of nearly every aspect of Columbia Business School. He launched countless initiatives to bridge academic theory with the practice of business; and reignited engagement of the School’s 46,000 global alumni community. He guided the expansion of three new extensions of the School’s Executive MBA program; launched four new master’s degrees; and supported the development of curricular innovations in real time, such as the launch of the School’s flagship Immersion Seminars and Master Classes. A prolific fundraiser, Hubbard raised more than $1 billion for Columbia Business School, including more than $500 million for the School’s future home on Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus.
Recognizing the benefits that can come from being a part of an interconnected, research-oriented University, Hubbard also bolstered strategic partnerships and programs across the University. Under his leadership, Columbia Business School helped launched numerous joint initiatives, including The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy; The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; and Entrepreneurship at Columbia, including initiatives such as the Columbia Startup Lab and Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Columbia.
In addition to his prodigious career in academia, Hubbard has worked at the intersection of the private, government and nonprofit sectors and has been actively engaged in national and international economic policy issues. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Hubbard as chairman of the the Economic Policy Committee, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international economic and trade organization where he served from 2001 until 2003. He is co-chair of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, and previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, United States Treasury. He is a past chair and current Centennial Society Member of the Economic Club of New York.
In the corporate sector, Hubbard serves as Chairman of the Board for MetLife, Inc. and the BlackRock Fixed-Income Funds Board. He also serves on the board of TotalEnergies.
Hubbard received his AM and PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1983 and has held faculty or visiting faculty positions at Northwestern, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, in addition to Columbia. Hubbard received his BA and BS degrees summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles in economics and finance, He is the author of three popular textbooks, as well as co-author of “The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty,” “Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America,” and “Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System.” His commentaries appear in Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, Nikkei, and the Daily Yomiuri, as well as on television and radio.
Neil Irwin
Neil Irwin is the chief economic correspondent at Axios, the digital media company. He reports on and analyzes U.S. and global economic trends, the Federal Reserve, financial markets, and how they interconnect. He is the lead author of Axios Macro, a daily e-mail newsletter focused on key economic and policy developments.
He is the author of two books: The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire, a New York Times bestselling narrative of the world's central bankers fighting the global financial crisis; and How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World, an exploration of how to best navigate a career in the 21st century economy.
From 2014 to 2021, Irwin was senior economic correspondent at The New York Times, where he wrote analysis and commentary on economic and financial market trends. Prior to the Times, Irwin was a reporter and columnist at The Washington Post for 13 years, where he covered the Federal Reserve and led coverage of the global financial crisis.
Merit E. Janow
Merit E. Janow is an internationally recognized expert in international trade and investment. She has extensive experience in business, academia and government, and has had life long involvement with Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
Academic experience: Janow became Dean of the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in July 2013, a position she concluded in December 2021. She remains on the Columbia faculty. As Dean of SIPA, she strengthened the school by launching new academic programs, expanding the faculty, creating new research programs, and completing two ambitious capital campaigns. For the past 27 years, she has been a professor at both SIPA and Columbia Law School. She has written three books and numerous articles.
Government Experience: Professor Janow has had three periods of government service. In December 2003, while at Columbia University, she was elected as one of the seven Members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body. In the course of her four years of service, she reviewed more than 30 appeals. From 1997-2000, Janow served as the Executive Director of the first international antitrust advisory committee to the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust of the US Justice Department. From 1989 to 1993, prior to joining Columbia, Janow served as Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China in the Executive Office of the President. In that capacity she was responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing U.S. trade policies and leading sectoral trade negotiations with Japan and China.
Corporate and Board Experience: Janow has extensive corporate and nonprofit board experience. She currently serves as non-executive Chairman of Mastercard, and serves on several boards within the American Funds/Capital group, and Aptiv Corp.. She was previously Chair of the Nasdaq Stock Market for nearly a decade. Janow also serves on the Board of non-profit organizations including Japan Society (chair), and the National Committee on US China Relations and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Early in her career, Janow was a corporate lawyer specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York. She grew up in Tokyo, Japan and speaks Japanese. She has a JD from Columbia Law School where she was a Stone Scholar and a BA in Asian Studies with honors from the University of Michigan.
Glenn Steinberg
Glenn is a world-renowned supply chain strategist and prominent strategic business advisor to boards and governments. He has over 35 years of industry and business consulting services experience driving high impact strategies and execution across the Fortune 500. Currently, Glenn serves as the Global Supply Chain & Operations Leader for EY (Ernst & Young LLP) managing multinational global teams across supply chain strategy, procurement, planning, manufacturing, product lifecycle management and logistics & distribution. Prior to his role with EY, Glenn drove profitable growth as the Global & Americas Distribution Sector Leader for IBM’s Global Business Services with responsibility for $2B P&L.
As a highly sought-after advisor and industry thought leader, Glenn was called upon by governments across the world at the height of the pandemic to solve critical supply chain challenges. Glenn is fully versed in supply chain strategy, people, process, and technology and has traveled extensively throughout his career working in mature and emerging markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Glenn’s global alliances across the supply chain technology ecosystem and deep expertise on emerging and disruptive supply chain challenges positions him to immediately contribute to board oversight roles and engage board colleagues and management with leading edge insights.
Garrett van Ryzin
Garrett van Ryzin is a Distinguished Scientist at Amazon in the Supply Chain Optimization Technologies (SCOT) group. Before joining Amazon, he was a Distinguished Scientist and Head of Marketplace Lab at Lyft, working on pricing and market design. Prior to Lyft, Garrett was Head of Marketplace Optimization Advanced Development at Uber. Garrett was also a Professor of Decision Risk and Operations at Columbia University and subsequently Professor of Operations, Technology and Information Management at Cornell Tech. Garrett received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, and holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Ph.D. in Operations Research from MIT.