Keynote Speakers
Dr. Kate Blackmon is Associate Professor in Operations Management at University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow in Management Studies at Merton College. She was the Senior Proctor in 2014-15 and has contributed to university administration, especially in research ethics and the Bodleian Library. Her chief areas of interest include operations strategy and how to help businesses achieve optimal performance, how gender and diversity can be managed in organisations, the innovation and evolution of new business models in professional service firms, and the design of research methods for business and management research. She is co-author with Dr. Harvey Maylor of Researching Business and Management (Palgrave), and is completing a book on the gender gap in leadership, Leading Women, for OUP.
Dr.Kate joined Saïd Business School from the University of Bath’s School of Management in September 2003, having previously worked at the London Business School and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne. Her first career was in the electric utility industry, designing and starting up nuclear power stations. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Clemson University in South Carolina and a BA in Business from the Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina, plus an MBA and PhD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Dr.Davis is a distinguished administrator and scholar, with an impressive record in higher education leadership. In her current role as Dean, Dr.Davis will provide strategic direction and vision for the School of Economics and Business Administration(SEBA),St.Mary's College of California. A respected professor of management,Dr. Davis has served as the Dean of the School of Management at the University of San Francisco (USF) for the past five years. Prior to USF Davis served two years as the dean and a tenured full professor of management for the College of Business at the University of New Haven.
Her experience also includes 12 years of demonstrated leadership at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She served as the department’s graduate program director and founded the university’s Women’s Leadership Institute. Dr.Davis’ administrative background includes serving as chair of the Management and Information Systems Department of the Erivan K. Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr.Davis has a depth of corporate experience that includes leadership in the biotech and medical fields. She served as Managing Director for the National Disease Research Interchange, a biomedical research firm; and as Director of Organizational Development of the Moss Rehabilitation Hospital, both based in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr.Davis earned her doctorate in social systems sciences from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in business policy, organizational theory, and strategic and international management. She earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from Barnard College at Columbia University.
Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan is an author, columnist and professor of management who focuses on strategy, innovation, and education. He is listed in the Thinkers50 India list of most influential management thinkers from India. Prof.Krishnan is currently serving as the Director of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania (Fall 2008), and at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (2011-12). Prof. Krishnan’s main areas of interest are strategy and innovation.
Prof. Krishnan writes extensively, and has more than 140 publications spanning outlets that include refereed journals, the popular press, case studies, book chapters, and books. These include two books on innovation: From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India, published in February 2010, and 8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad to Excellence (co-authored with Vinay Dabholkar, and published by HarperCollins in March 2013). The latter won the Best Book Award 2013-14 from the Indian Society for Training and Development.
From 1996-2013, Prof. Krishnan worked at IIM Bangalore, where he held the Jamuna Raghavan Chair in Entrepreneurship from 2007 to 2010. After serving a five year stint from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 as the Director of IIM Indore, he returned to IIM Bangalore and is currently Director of IIM Bangalore and Professor of Strategy there. He was educated at IIT Kanpur, Stanford University and IIM Ahmedabad.
Dr. Thomas (Tom) Turk is the dean of the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University. He is also currently a professor of management. Dr. Turk previously served as the Leatherby Chair in Entrepreneurship. Dr. Turk joined Chapman University in 1992 after serving for five years on the faculty at Texas A&M University. He earned a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the University of California, Irvine in 1988.
Dr. Turk's research on corporate strategy, corporate governance, and executive compensation issues has appeared in leading academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Economic Inquiry, Human Relations, Journal of Management, Journal of High Technology Management, Strategic Management Review, and Journal of Economics and Business. His research on corporate governance, mergers and hostile takeovers has appeared in Corporate Governance and The Management of Corporate Acquisitions, both collections of articles by internationally recognized scholars. His current research focuses on improving resource allocation by applying property rights theory to the internal management of organizations.
Dr. Turk lectures widely in executive education programs for both public and private organizations. He frequently consults with businesses on strategic planning, strategic change, and executive compensation issues. Dr. Turk has provided management training and consulting services to over 100 clients, including Ford Motor Company, Koch Industries, Time Warner Communications, Boise Cascade, Toyota, Marsh McLennan, Allergan, First American Financial, and many other government, non-profit and for-profit organizations. He also serves as an expert witness on top executive compensation and business valuation issues.
Dr. Anthony Wilbon's expertise is in strategic technology management. Particular areas of research include technology strategy, quantitative analysis, information technology, and technology innovation and entrepreneurship. Research in sustainable environmental engineering through the integration of social, environmental, and economic considerations into systems design methods has also been explored through funded NOAA research projects. His professional experience and capabilities extend to business, management, and technology related topics including systems application and technology, production and operations management, project management, systems development life cycle, and research methodology (quantitative and qualitative).
Prior to joining Howard University, Dr.Wilbon was an associate professor at Morgan State University where he also served as principal investigator of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration-funded Environmental Cooperative Science Center in collaboration with Florida A&M University. He also served as a senior information technology analyst with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and a senior management consultant with Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Inc.
Dr.Wilbon has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, reports to Federal Agencies, and Technical Reports, as well as a published book. As a researcher and principal investigator, he has led teams that have generated several million dollars in research and contract fund.
A respected academician, Dr.Wilbon completed his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering at Michigan State University, a master of business administration degree at Howard University School of Business, and a doctor of philosophy degree at George Washington University in Management of Science, Technology and Innovation. He is also the recipient of a Fulbright International Education Administrators Award (France), and has professional certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP®), and Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.