Board
Governance
SummitNavigating Emerging Technologies and More in a

Complex World

LizAnn Eisen is a trusted advisor to companies, organizations, and individuals facing complex business and legal challenges. She is a highly accomplished professional with a remarkable career that spans the legal, academic, and public sectors. Professor Eisen’s career has been shaped by working collaboratively to identify opportunities, implement value-enhancing strategies, and solve problems. She brings an unusual range of business, strategy, and regulatory expertise in both large organizations and startups, regularly advising entrepreneurs, evaluating and investing in businesses, and serving on public, private and governmental boards.  

Professor Eisen is an Acting Professor of the Practice at Cornell Law School and has taught at Cornell in Ithaca and Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island since 2018. At the end of 2018, she retired from Cravath, where she had been a corporate partner since 2005, enjoying a wonderful career of over 20 years. Professor Eisen’s practice focused on domestic and international public and private corporate finance transactions, corporate governance and reporting matters, M&A, and liability management transactions. She has worked across many industries, including technology, financial services, industrials, and consumer products.

From January 2022 to September 2022, Professor Eisen served as the Deputy Director of Disclosure Operations in the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC. In that seat, she led a team of over 350 people overseeing the disclosure review program for ‘33 and ‘34 Act disclosure, including in emerging areas such as fintech and digital assets, as well as division-wide performance evaluation, risk oversight, and strategy.  

Professor Eisen’s experiences have deepened her passion to work with entrepreneurs as a valuable sounding board to them on strategy, regulatory matters, and talent. She was on the board of a SPAC and serves on the board of CEA company, capitalizing on emerging market trends. Since 2018, through teaching at Cornell Tech, Professor Eisen has spent time with entrepreneurs early in their startup journey. This complements her role as a Senior Partner, Strategy & Regulatory, at Braven, an early-stage investment firm, and as an independent advisor to startups in fintech, digital health, and consumer products.

David J. Kappos is Co-Chair of Cravath’s Intellectual Property Practice. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost leaders in the field of intellectual property, including intellectual property management and strategy; the development of global intellectual property norms, laws, and practices; and commercialization and enforcement of innovation-based assets.

Mr. Kappos supports the firm’s clients with a wide range of their most complex intellectual property issues, including those pertaining to blockchain, cryptoassets, and fintech, as well as data security and privacy. From August 2009 to January 2013, Mr. Kappos served as Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In that role, he advised the President, the Secretary of Commerce, and the administration on intellectual property policy matters. As Director of the USPTO, he led the agency in dramatically re-engineering its entire management and operational systems as well as its engagement with the global innovation community. Mr. Kappos was instrumental in achieving the greatest legislative reform of the U.S. patent system in generations through passage and implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, signed into law by President Obama in September 2011.

Prior to leading the USPTO, Mr. Kappos held several executive posts in the legal department of IBM, including litigation counsel; Asia Pacific IP counsel; and, from 2003 to 2009, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Lawyer responsible for all patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters worldwide.

Fellow and Lecturer. Y-SIM was established in 2022 to help leaders more effectively create economic and societal value. The program is based on the work Jon and his collaborators led exploring stakeholder capitalism’s impact on leadership.

Jon is also Founding Executive Director of the Data & Trust Alliance, a not-for-profit organization which brings together leading businesses to develop and adopt responsible data and AI practices. Its first initiative, announced in 2021, was the development of algorithmic anti-bias safeguards for workforce practices, adopted by its member companies including American Express, CVS Health, GM, Humana, Mastercard, Meta, Nike and Walmart.

Over a 35-year career at IBM, Jon held multiple roles, including Senior Vice President, Chief Brand Officer, and leader of the company’s global marketing, communications and citizenship organization. He reported to three IBM CEOs during two decades of significant transformation. He was chairman of IBM’s corporate strategy committee and established the company’s values and policy committee. According to Interbrand, IBM became the second most valuable brand in the world during Jon’s tenure as CMO.

Jon is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; a director of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and chair of its nominating and governance committee; and a member of the advisory board of Responsible Innovation Labs. He was appointed a Tech Ethics and Policy Mentor at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University in April 2023.

Jon is an inductee of the B2B Hall of Fame, the Marketing Hall of Fame and the CMO Club Hall of Fame. He was named a Brand Genius by AdWeek. In 2023 he received the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communications from the Page Center at Penn State University. He holds a B.A. from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University.

Jon is co-inventor of a U.S. patent for a nanotechnology and process for atomic-scale semiconductors.

Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger is a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He is a Fellow of the Initiative on the Digital Economy, of Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, of MIT Connection Science, and of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Dr. Wladawsky-Berger retired from IBM in May of 2007 after a 37-year career with the company, where his primary focus was on innovation and technical strategy. He led a number of IBM’s companywide initiatives including the internet, supercomputing, and Linux. Dr. Wladawsky-Berger has been Adviser on Digital Strategy and Innovation at Citigroup, at HBO, and at MasterCard; Adjunct Professor at the Imperial College Business School; and guest columnist at the Wall Street Journal’s CIO Journal. Since 2005, he has been writing a weekly blog, irvingwb.com.

Dr. Wladawsky-Berger is a member of the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Linux Foundation Research Advisory Board. He was co-chair of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee as well as a founding member of the Computer Sciences and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council.

Dr. Wladawsky-Berger is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A native of Cuba, he was named the 2001 Hispanic Engineer of the Year. Dr. Wladawsky-Berger received an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago.

Co-Founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards/Board Member of PennyMac Financial, AccuWeather, and MPower Partners.

Lisa Shalett is the Co-Founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards, a dynamic peer-to-peer network of 700+ women who are experienced corporate board directors, focused on advancing board excellence, modernizing governance, and raising the presence and influence of diverse board members. A former Goldman Sachs Partner, she serves on several public and private for-profit boards, and also advises growth companies.

Known for her agility over her 25+ year career, she has held global leadership roles ranging from International Equities, to Compliance, Risk and Audit, to Brand Marketing, Digital Transformation, and Strategic Innovation. She managed Goldman Sachs’ brand through the financial crisis.

Lisa currently serves on the boards of PennyMac Financial (NYSE: PFSI), AccuWeather (private), and MPower Partners (private, Japan’s first female-founded, and first ESG-focused Venture Capital firm), and informally advises a number of startups. She previously served on the boards of Brookfield Property Partners, Bully Pulpit Interactive, and PerformLine. She is a committed mentor, a connector, a life-long learner with a serendipity mindset, and is fascinated by transitions, “portfolio careers,” and the power of communities. She lives in NYC, earned her MBA from Harvard Business School, and her BA, summa cum laude, in East Asian Studies (Japan) from Harvard University.

In addition to his role as co-chair of the DSCI, Mike is currently an Independent Board Member for Specright, a Senior Advisor for Sageview Capital, an Advisor for a stealth cybersecurity startup and an advisor for CyberStarts. Mike and his family have also founded Team Steve: The Steven Crowe Legacy Fund at Curesearch for Children’s Cancer. Mike retired as Chief Information Officer at Colgate-Palmolive Company after serving in that role from 2013-2022. In this role, Mike was responsible for leading Colgate’s Global Information Technology strategy and function.

Mike has led a broad range of IT organizations and initiatives over the years, joining Colgate in 1989 at the Colgate Data Center. He led several software implementations around the world, including many SAP projects. Mike has been responsible for multiple IT shared service organizations, IT infrastructure and software application development, where he and his team were involved in many leading-edge projects, including SAP’s HANA technology, agile development, mobile applications, cloud computing and collaboration tools.

Prior to joining Colgate, Mike held software development positions related to U.S. naval defense systems and healthcare systems at Computer Sciences Corporation, Shared Medical Systems, and Seton Hall University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Delaware.”

Bill Priestap is a founder of Trenchcoat Advisors, a boutique risk management firm. He is a recognized thought leader in national security, with a particular expertise in business security risks. Mr. Priestap spent 21 years at the FBI. While serving as head of the Counterintelligence Division, his responsibilities included the development and implementation of the organization’s global strategy to counter foreign nations’ intelligence efforts against the United States. Earlier in his career, Mr. Priestap handled transnational organized crime and later counterterrorism investigations. Over the years, he has interacted with hundreds of businesses and gained deep insight into the risks they face. Mr. Priestap is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he was previously a Centennial Fellow.

Allen Parker served from March 2017 until March 2020 as an executive at Wells Fargo & Company in San Francisco. He was Wells Fargo’s Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member from March 2019 until November 2019, and was the General Counsel for the remainder of his tenure.

Allen is currently the President of J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC, a company that creates investment indices, provides geopolitical risk-rating services, and performs risk analytics for governmental and commercial entities. He is also currently a member of the Board of Directors of Archer Systems, LLC, a company that provides comprehensive litigation-related claims administration and other settlement services, and was elected an Independent Director of Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group following its bankruptcy filing. Allen is also currently a member of the Board of Directors of, or an advisor to, several not-for-profit organizations.

Earlier in his career, Allen was a partner in the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. While at Cravath, he specialized in finance and corporate governance and served in a variety of firm leadership roles, including serving from January 2013 through December 2016 as Cravath’s Presiding Partner.

Allen received a B.A. in 1977 from Duke University, where he majored in political science and comparative area studies. He then received an M.A. in political science in 1980 from the University of Chicago, where he focused on international affairs and political systems in China, India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Allen received a J.D. in 1983 from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Notes and Comments Editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Noah Joshua Phillips is former commissioner, FTC/Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and previously served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. He advises clients on a range of antitrust issues, including mergers and acquisitions, business conduct and compliance, litigation and investigations, and data security and privacy. At the FTC, Mr. Phillips played an integral role in precedent-setting enforcement actions and regulatory efforts concerning antitrust, consumer protection, and privacy. Prior to the FTC, he served as Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator John Cornyn, of Texas, on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Phillips received an A.B. magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2000 and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2005. After law school, he clerked for Hon. Edward C. Prado of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and joined Cravath’s Litigation Department in 2006. Mr. Phillips left the firm in 2010 and rejoined Cravath as a partner in December 2022.

Sarah Kreps focuses on the intersection of international politics, technology, and national security. She is the John L. Wetherill Professor in the Department of Government, Adjunct Professor of Law, and the Director of the Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute.

She has written five books, including, most recently, Social Media and International Relations. Other books include Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy; Drones: What Everyone Needs to Know; Drone Warfare; and Coalitions of Convenience: United States Military Interventions after the Cold War.

Beyond these books, Professor Kreps’ work has appeared in a number of academic journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Science Advances, Vaccine, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open, American Political Science Review, World Politics, International Security, and Journal of Cybersecurity, policy journals such as Foreign Affairs, and media outlets such as CNN, the BBC, New York Times, and Washington Post.

Professor Kreps is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations (and is a life member), Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, West Point, and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs.

Professor Kreps received her undergraduate degree from Harvard, a master’s from Oxford and her Ph.D. from Georgetown. She served as an active-duty officer in the United States Air Force from 1999-2003.

Tamara Brightwell is a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she counsels public company clients on a wide range of regulatory matters and provides expert securities law advice on complex capital markets transactions.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Brightwell served as the Disclosure Review Program Director in the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In that role, she provided legal and policy guidance to the disclosure review program and oversaw the division’s reviews of transactional filings and periodic and current reports to monitor and enhance compliance with disclosure and accounting requirements, with specific oversight of industry offices for life sciences, industrial applications and services, energy and transportation, manufacturing, and trade and services. During her nearly two decades at the SEC and in the Division of Corporation Finance, Ms. Brightwell served in numerous roles, including as Deputy Chief Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Chair.

Ms. Brightwell received a B.S. in financial management, cum laude, from Clemson University, and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Erik Moser is the global head of strategic communications in the Cyber Risk practice, based in the Pacific Northwest. With more than 15 years of experience managing crisis communications to protect brands and mitigate reputational risk, Erik leads Kroll’s strategic communications services worldwide. He is a nationally respected issues and crisis communications strategist, who has participated in some of the highest-profile reputation management and cyber security incidents of the last five years.

Jason Smolanoff is President of Kroll’s Cyber Risk practice, based in the Los Angeles office. Since joining Kroll in 2017, Jason has led the practice through transformative growth into a highly diversified, global organization that today provides clients with seamless, end-to-end cyber risk management services.

William is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Braven, an early-stage investor that’s built for breakthroughs within large regulated sectors – finance, healthcare & industrials.

Before Braven, William spent over a decade at BlackRock, where he was the Founder and Head of its Innovation Capital venture group. There he led investments in more than 25 early-stage startups, serving as board member for 18 companies, and fostering 8 successful IPOs. He also served as Deputy Chair of the firm-wide Blackrock Investment Council, and previously led its Market Intelligence Group – an investment team guided by quantitative analysis and global macro-economic and sector insights.

Prior to joining BlackRock, William was Head of Fixed Income Trading Strategy at Bridgewater Associates, having begun at the firm as the architect of their FX trading systems. Before that, he had founded LogisticScience, a strategy consulting firm leveraging advanced data analytics and computational models to support decision making across Fortune 1000 clients.

William holds advanced degrees in Physiology and Computer Science from McGill and Concordia Universities (Montreal, Canada) and has pursued extended coursework at the Center for Applied Mathematics in Bioscience & Medicine. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Theodore “Teddy” Flo is Zest AI’s Chief Legal Officer, overseeing legal, compliance, lobbying, and regulatory affairs. With a focus on fair lending, artificial intelligence policy, explainability, model risk, and Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance, Teddy provides strategic guidance to the Company, helping every department live Zest AI’s mission of making credit fair and transparent for everyone. Before joining Zest AI, Teddy was in private practice, helping financial services clients of all sizes and types with litigation and enforcement matters as well as with the development and management of compliance management systems. Teddy graduated with honors from The George Washington University Law School and summa cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Victoria Grace is a founding partner of Colle Capital Partners LP, an opportunistic, early stage technology venture fund. Previously she was a partner at Wall Street Technology Partners LP, a $125mm mid stage technology fund. Before that she was a Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Private Equity Group. Victoria has extensive experience in originating, structuring and monitoring venture capital transactions.

Victoria has worked with, and made investments in a broad range of companies, including enterprise software, wireless technologies, medical devices, health IT, FinTech, hardware, virtual reality and D2C retail companies. Victoria is especially passionate about companies that have a strong ESG focus. She has evaluated and invested in the companies worldwide. Notable investments that Victoria either led or worked closely with include Apriso (acquired by Dassault Systemes), bitpesa, Bread Finance (acquired by Alliance Data), CargoX, Concourse (acquired by EAB), Coast, Collectiv Food, Doctor.com (acquired by Press Ganey), Dukkantek, EnsoData, Findigs, Frete, Haystacks.AI, Hyliion (NYSE: HYLN), Imagemover, JunoDX, Maven Clinic, MaxBone, MetaStorm (acquired by OpenText), Netki, Numan, NWO.AI, QMerit, Radar, Sensydia, SkopeNow, Swiftmile, Syft (acquired by Indeed) and Vergent Bioscience.
In addition, Victoria co-founded Work It, Mom! LLC, a network site for professional moms with an advertising revenue model. She co-managed the company for five years, until it was merged into another content company in NYC.

Prior to joining Dresdner Kleinwort Capital, Victoria was with a Los Angeles-based venture capital/incubator firm focused in the emerging technology, Internet, and biotech fields. Earlier, she worked in the investment banking division of Salomon Brothers in New York, where she participated in M&A advisory assignments and capital raising for commercial banks and finance companies.

Earlier in her career, Victoria did cancer related research at the National Institutes of Health. Her research was published in well-respected science magazines. Victoria was also a research assistant at the Washington University School of Medicine, Cardiothoracic Surgery Department. There she analyzed statistics and data recorded from activation of the sinus node of the heart.

Victoria received a B.A. in economics and biochemistry, Summa Cum Laude, from Washington University in St. Louis, winning both a Florence Moog Academic Science Scholarship and a Mabel Blake Academic Science Scholarship.

Victoria has been serving on the board of Vostok New Ventures, an investment company with presence in Sweden from 2015 to 2021. Vostok New Ventures focuses on European and emerging markets companies with strong network effects. Victoria also sits on the Investment Committee of Teklas Ventures, a corporate venture arm of Teklas, One of the leading auto parts suppliers to the most prominent car manufacturers. Teklas Ventures focuses on European and US companies with strong strategic synergies.
Victoria is an avid supporter of education and involved in the Go Project. She also supports other education-focused organizations. Victoria is also actively involved in Washington University, her alma mater.

Mr. Steimberg retired in March 2020 as the CEO of Orbotech. In his 28 years at Orbotech, he worked throughout the organization leading finance, accounting and investor relations/reporting as CFO for nine years and strategy, operations and business development as COO and President for 10 years.

Mr. Steimberg serves as the Chairman, Innoviz, Chairman, Airovation, Bd. Mem. Off-Sec, Frm. CEO, Orbotech.

Mr. Steimberg has a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Business Administration from the Hebrew University. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Effective February 5, 2020, Colin Browne became the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the company’s supply chain and sourcing operations, demand planning, distribution, information technology, business process management, corporate real estate, asset protection and sustainability. From July 2017 to February 2020, Colin served as the Chief Supply Chain Officer where he led all aspects of the company’s supply chain operations, including sourcing, planning and global distribution and logistics.

Mr. Browne has over 25 years of experience leading sourcing efforts for large brands. Prior to joining Under Armour, he served as Vice President and Managing Director for VF Corporation, leading its sourcing and product supply organization in Asia and Africa. Additionally, he served as Executive Vice President of Footwear and Accessories for Li and Fung Group LTD and Chief Executive Officer, Asia for Pentland Brands PLC.

Yali Harari is the CEO and co-Founder of Innovesta. She is a serial entrepreneur in the knowledge architecture, analytics and AI spaces. Earlier in her career Yali was CEO of various startups such as Tescom and Kamoon, and 3i-MIND as well as COO and head of Global Delivery for NICE Systems (NASDQ:NICE).She lives between Tel-Aviv and NYC.

Yali has a B.Sc in Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science from Tel Aviv university.

Jane Seu is a Senior Client Partner based in Korn Ferry’s Washington DC office and a member of the firm’s Global Technology practice.

Jane is an accomplished search executive specializing in emerging digital technologies across all sectors, commercial and government, in the North American region. Her work is notable as it relates to the recruitment and selection of members of boards of directors and senior operating leaders. She also has extensive experience advising large-scale public-private sector partnerships in technology and innovation.

Jane’s career in executive search spans 15 years leading high visibility engagements with concentration in general management (CEOs, COOs, presidents) and technical (CTOs, CIOs, CISOs, CDOs, CPOs) leadership.

Prior to Korn Ferry, Jane was a principal for the CEO & Board of Directors practice focused on the technology industry for another public-traded executive search firm.

Before executive search, Jane was a member of the technology consulting services division of Thomson Reuters Corporation.

Jane holds a master’s degree from Brown University and a bachelor’s degree from New York University. She resides in Washington, DC.

For the past two years, Saira has shepherded the creation of tools designed to increase the responsible use of data and AI—from Algorithmic Bias Safeguards in HR to Responsible Data and AI diligence for M&A. The result has been cross-industry adoption by the CEOs at the Data & Trust Alliance—a coalition of leading organizations including American Express, Humana, IBM, Nike, UPS, Walmart, and more.

In addition to her post as Deputy Executive Director of Data & Trust Alliance, she is a Partner at SYPartners, a transformation consultancy. Past work includes partnering with the new Pfizer CEO to envision an entirely new purpose, strategy, and values-oriented cultural transformation that buoyed them through the pandemic.

Saira has a background in science journalism. She received her B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University and has since lectured at the Yale School of Management and Parsons School of Design. Born in Kenya, she’s spent much of her life in Africa and the Middle East before moving to New York City.

Machua Millett is the Chief Innovation Officer and Alternative Investment Practice Leader at Lockton Financial Services, in which role he creates new insurance products for unaddressed risk exposures and serves as a technical expert on management and professional liability issues for private equity, venture capital and hedge fund managers, SPACs and target companies, and private and public companies. He works on a regular basis with GPL policies, portfolio companies, D&O programs, SPACs, and companies making the transition from private to public through initial public offerings (IPOs) and reverse mergers, D&O/management liability, pension trust liability, fidelity/crime, employment practices liability, private equity/venture capital professional services liability, internet/e‐commerce/cyber liability, kidnap and ransom, and merger and acquisition facilitation products. Mach has also been involved in creating new insurance products relating to wage and hour liability, FCPA investigation costs, FERC investigation costs, the responsible corporate officer doctrine, Dodd Frank compensation claw-back, cyber liability, social engineering loss, Chief Compliance Officer personal liability, intellectual property infringement liability, reputational risk, medical billing and coding liability, and transaction facilitation.

Mach came to Lockton after twelve years at Marsh and ten years as an attorney at Skadden Arps, Bingham McCutchen, and Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, where he practiced law as an intellectual property, securities and general commercial litigator and insurance coverage defense lawyer. He has extensive experience crafting insurance contracts and litigating, arbitrating, mediating and negotiating the settlement of complex securities, intellectual property, business and insurance coverage disputes.

Roslyn (Roz) leads PwC’s U.S. Government, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy office based in Washington, DC. A member of the firm’s U.S. Leadership Team, Roz is responsible for ensuring PwC has a voice in important debates at the nexus of business and government and helping the firm successfully execute its business strategy. Roz leads PwC’s engagement with Congress, the White House, regulatory agencies, state and local governments, and third-party organizations including trade associations, think tanks, and NGOs.

Roz brings more than 25 years of experience working at PwC in both tax consulting and public policy. During her tenure in PwC’s tax practice, Roz’s participated in a national rotational program working directly with the firm’s U.S. Leadership Team. In the program, Roz led internal initiatives focused on brand, knowledge management, and communications. After completing the program, Roz transitioned to the firm’s U.S. Government, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy team based in Washington, D.C., which is where she has played an essential role in leading government, regulatory, and public policy strategy for PwC for 20 years.

Roz has been a featured speaker at several major conferences hosted by Atlantic Media, the Committee for Economic Development, the National Association for Black Accountants, and the Society for Corporate Governance. She also serves on the Board of Browne Academy, an independent private day school in Alexandria, Virginia and the Advisory Council for GlobalWIN—a nonprofit organization that helps women lead in the global innovation economy.

Roz holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from Stanford University, a J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor, and an L.L.M. in Taxation from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Barry Strauss is a classicist and a military and naval historian and consultant. In addition to teaching at Cornell, he is also the Corliss Page Dean Fellow at the Hoover Institution. As the Series Editor of Princeton’s Turning Points in Ancient History and author of nine books on ancient History, Professor Strauss is a recognized authority on the subject of leadership and the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of the greatest political and military leaders of the ancient world (Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander among many others).

He is a former Chair of Cornell’s Department of History as well as a former Director of Cornell’s Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, where he studied modern engagements from Bosnia to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Europe. He also served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is an expert on military strategy. He is currently director as well as a founder of Cornell’s Program on Freedom and Free Societies, which investigates challenges to constitutional liberty at home and abroad.  He holds fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Korea Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the American Academy in Rome, among others and is the recipient of Cornell’s Clark (now Russell) Award for Excellence in Teaching. In recognition of his scholarship, he received he received the Lucio Colletti Journalism Prize for literature and he was named an Honorary Citizen of Salamis, Greece.

His Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization was named one of the best books of 2004 by the Washington Post. His Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar and the Genius of Leadership was named one of the best books of 2012 by Bloomberg. His The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination, (Simon & Schuster, March 2015) has been hailed as “clear and compelling” by TIME, “brilliant” by the Wall Street Journal, “engrossing, exhaustive yet surprisingly easy to read” by Barrons, and “an absolutely marvelous read” by The Times of London.

His bestselling Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustine to Constantine (Simon & Schuster, March 2019) was called “an exceptionally accessible history of the Roman Empire … much of Ten Caesars reads like a script for Games of Thrones (Wall Street Journal), “enlightening,” (New York Times), “an excellent and eminently readable introduction,” (New Criterion), “a history page-turner which brings to life Rome’s rulers,” (National Geographic), and “a captivating narrative,” (Publisher’s Weekly). The book was named to five best book lists of the year.

Strauss’s books have been translated into nineteen languages. Strauss is also author of over 60 scholarly articles and reviews.

Strauss is a well-known television personality with appearances on The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, CNN, PBS, and Netflix. He is host of the popular podcast, “ANTIQUITAS: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World,” barrystrauss.com/podcast or on most platforms.

In March 2022 he will publish his latest book, The War that Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium (Simon & Schuster).