Alumni Conference
Speaker Bios
Professor Sara BeckmanJulie Clugage, MBA 02
Victor d'Allant, MBA 87
Jeanie Fay-Snow
Mark Friedfeld
Nick Hodges
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, MBA 92
Penny Kreitzer
Dean Rich Lyons
Eric Nitzberg
Professor Andy Rose
Professor Nora Silver
Professor Toby Stuart
Professor Terry Taylor
Marcelo Vasquez, MBA 02
Brett Wilson, MBA 07
Peter Wilson, MBA 92
John M. Woolard, MBA 97
Celebrate your reunion milestone with a gift: Haas alumni have a tradition of giving back to support today's students
Sara Beckman's work focuses on design and innovation, which has led to the recent development and offering of a new course to all MBA students at Haas that introduces them to the basic skills required to innovate. She brings to this class twenty-five plus years of teaching experience, and over 15 years of teaching topics related to design and new product development. During her tenure at Haas, she has regularly introduced new courses in areas ranging from entrepreneurship in biotechnology to the strategic value of design to business and has won the excellence in teaching award from MBA students as well as the campus-wide distinguished teaching award in the process. She has also taught for MIT and Stanford University, run the Change Management Team at Hewlett-Packard, and worked as a consultant in the operations management practice at Booz, Allen and Hamilton. She has degrees in industrial engineering and statistics from Stanford University. She serves on the advisory boards of the Corporate Design Foundation and the Design MBA Program at the California College of the Arts.
Julie Clugage manages operations, communications and engagements with the economic development community for Intel's Education Market Platforms Group, a team that designs and supports deployment of purpose-built technology for K-12 education in over 70 countries worldwide. In her previous role at Intel, Julie was Chief of Staff for the Vice President of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group, supporting executive communications on Intel's education, environment and CSR efforts, and driving education alliances with development agencies and NGOs. Prior to joining Intel in 2002, Julie worked for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC from 1996 to 2000. She also worked for two years in rural Guatemala at a teacher training high school for Mayan youth and served as a legislative assistant for former U.S. Congressman Leon Panetta. Julie holds a Master of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and an AB in Government and Economics from Dartmouth College.
Victor d'Allant @dallant is CEO of 
Jeanie Fay-Snow, M.B.A., is the Principal of Fay-Snow & Associates and a Senior Leadership Coach for Mariposa Leadership, Inc. Jeanie is focused on empowering leaders to achieve individual, team and organizational performance goals and sustainable business results. She works with executives in the development and implementation of strategies that produce professional growth and tangible impact. Jeanie leverages her corporate and organizational experience and counseling expertise to enhance the effectiveness and personal satisfaction of her clients. Her perceptive ability gives her a unique vantage point from which she helps clients uncover insights, see possibilities and capitalize on their strengths and opportunities. Her sense of humor makes the process fun.
With a background in law, marketing and admissions, Mark joined Haas in 2001 after working for the MBA program at the University of Maryland. Following judicial clerkships in Alaska and attorney positions in Washington, D.C., he entered the business world by joining the Princeton Review, where he taught students, trained instructors, designed courses and served in various corporate roles including Special Project Manager and Director of Marketing. Mark's roles at Haas have included Account Manager for the Financial Services and Real Estate industries, Marketing Manager, and Assistant Director for Career Advising and Programing. As a career advisor, Mark works with all students but has a particular focus in financial services.
Nick Hodges serves as The San Francisco Foundation's Vice President for Philanthropic Services, overseeing business development and donor relations. He works closely with donors and Foundation Program staff to maximize donors' philanthropic impact. Nick was previously COO of the Schwab Charitable Fund where he oversaw fundraising and grants management. He serves on the board of the Horizons Foundation and chairs its planned giving committee. Nick has a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy certification from the American College and is completing his Bachelor's in Business Economics from the University of San Francisco.
Penny Kreitzer is a founding director of Corporate Scenes, an international Leadership and Communications Training Company. She can be contacted at PennyKreitzer@gmail.com. Her experience covers Fortune 500 companies, international training in Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. She is adjunct faculty at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and The Olin School of Business at Washington University. Clients include speakers at the World Economic Forum, Davost, Anchor "60 Minutes," The Economist as well as Academy Award Nominated Documentaries. As a professional award-winning actress, she has performed at the American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She is originally from South Africa and holds an MA in Theatre and a Voice and Speech Teachers' Licentiate Diploma from Trinity College, London.
Richard K. Lyons became dean of the Haas School of Business in July 2008, where he previously served as acting dean for one year in 2004 and as executive associate dean from 2005 to 2008. Prior to becoming dean, Lyons served as the chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs in New York, where he was responsible for leadership development among the firm's managing directors. Lyons began his teaching career as a professor of finance at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business in New York, where he served on the faculty from 1987 until he joined the Haas School faculty in 1993. In 1998 Lyons received UC Berkeley's highest teaching honor, the Distinguished Teaching Award and his students have honored him six times with the Haas School's Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching. After earning his BS in business in 1982 from UC Berkeley, Lyons went on to earn a PhD in international and macroeconomics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1987. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the UC Berkeley Foundation as well as the steering committee of UC Berkeley's Blum Center for Developing Economies.
Eric Nitzberg is an executive coach, facilitator and keynote speaker who helps leaders focus on what is most important, improve communication and alignment with key stakeholders, build influence, and speak and lead from a place of deep authenticity. He draws on a rich background as inspiration for his work. Prior to consulting he held a series of leadership and executive positions over a 15 year period which involved coaching and supervising managers, directors and key leaders; strategic planning, leadership development, board leadership, HR, finance, and operations. In addition, Eric has over two decades of public speaking experience, including an extensive background as a professional speaker. His clients find him an invaluable resource as they prepare for high-stakes, mission critical presentations. Finally, with a background in Mandarin studies, Eric is passionate about helping Chinese executives communicate and lead in an English speaking context. Clients include leaders and teams at:
Andrew K. Rose is the B.T. Rocca Jr. Professor of International Business in the Economic Analysis and Policy Group, Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley; he serves as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Chair of the Faculty. He is also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (based in Cambridge, MA), and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (based in London, England). He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his M.Phil. from Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and his B.A. from Trinity College, University of Toronto.
Nora Silver is a professor at Haas and the director of the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, which she has led to a #3 ranking in US News & World Report 2012. Before coming to Haas, Nora founded and ran three nonprofit organizations and served on numerous boards of directors. An organizational consultant on strategy and planning, she has worked with more than 200 organizations worldwide, including nonprofits, businesses, governments, foundations and universities. Silver holds a Ph.D. in organizational and clinical psychology, and is the author of Telling the Whole Story (2011) as well as numerous papers and articles. At Haas, she co-teaches Social Sector Solutions, a nonprofit consulting projects class, and Cal Strategic Philanthropy, a class in which students have $10,000 to contribute to create the greatest social impact.
Toby E. Stuart is Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Visiting Professor at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and Faculty Director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, UCB. Previously he was the Arthur J. Samberg Professor and Faculty Director, Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School. At Harvard and Columbia, he has served as course head for Entrepreneurship and Strategy Formulation, respectively. From 1995 to 2003, he was at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, where he was the Fred G. Steingraber-A.T. Kearney Professor of Leadership & Strategy. He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He holds an A.B., summa cum laude, in economics from Carleton College.
Terry Taylor is the Milton W. Terrill Associate Professor in the Operations and Information Technology Management Group at the Haas School of Business. He is the Faculty Co-Director of Berkeley's Center for Executive Education. Prior to his position at Berkeley, Terry was a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. Prior to his academic career, Terry was a consultant for McKinsey & Company. Terry's research is in the area of operations--how firms and create and deliver goods and services. His current research is focused on issues of social responsibility in operations management. He is a two-time recipient of Berkeley's Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching. BusinessWeek identified him as a Top Ten Business Professor in 2011.
Marcelo has over fifteen years of international experience in business technology, as an entrepreneur and executive.
Brett Wilson leads the strategic direction for TubeMogul. Under his leadership TubeMogul has grown revenues over 300% annually since inception and attracted world class board members, investors and employees. He is a serial entrepreneur and has created shareholder and customer value through multiple companies. In the late 90's, Brett started an ecommerce company called YouCanSave.com which he built to $70 million in revenue and sold to HIG Capital. In 2001, the company was honored with the San Francisco Times Hot Technology Award and as one of the Top 10 Fastest Growing Ecommerce Companies in the World by NextCard. Brett also founded Mariner Marketing - a digital marketing agency that became the digital agency of record for several brands including Church & Dwight and Orange Glo International. Additionally, Brett spent three years as a technology consultant at Accenture leading system implementations for Fortune 100 clients including Adecco, Republic Industries and Caesar's World International. Brett is a recognized thought leader in the digital video advertising industry and speaks regularly at conferences including OMMA, AdTech and StreamingMedia. Brett received his MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. It was at UC Berkeley that he and John Hughes started TubeMogul and won the Berkeley Business Plan Competition in 2007. Brett is married and has three beautiful children.
Peter Wilson, Managing Director, is the Head of Alternative Strategy for North American strategies within BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI). BAI includes BlackRock's hedge funds and opportunistic funds, funds of hedge funds, private equity, private equity funds of funds, real estate and real assets.
John Woolard is president and CEO of BrightSource Energy, a developer of utility-scale solar power plants. In this role, John brings more than two decades of experience in the energy technology sector as an executive, entrepreneur, and investor. In this session, Woolard will address the challenges we collectively face as we look at growing requirements for energy across the world and the role of renewable energy in meeting these future needs. One of the key issues is finding a way to meet the needs for high quality power with low carbon generation sources while dealing with the intermittency of renewable power. Brightsource Energy is currently building the largest solar power plant in the world that will provide a useful case study about the financing and project development challenges that need to be confronted with this type of project.