The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship C FA • NACD

Tipping Points for America:
The Outlook for Free Enterprise
and Entrepreneurship
CFA • NACD • Salem Radio Network
Summit Presenters
Philip K. Howard
Common Good
Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt Show
Wallace Jefferson Gov. Tim Pawlenty John Ratzenberger
Anastasia
Chief Justice
Minnesota
Industrial Tsunami
Kelly, Former
TX Supreme Court
Vice Chairman, AIG
Bob Dorigo Jones
CFA Radio
Commentator
Harold See
Former Justice
AL Supreme Court
Rebecca Love
Kourlis, IAALS
Rick Homan
SVP, Health Affairs
Drexel University
Lew Ebert
Larry Mocha
Senator Glenn Lynn Shapiro Snyder
Sen. Ronnie Chance
Epstein Becker
President, North Chairman, Finance
Chief Executive
Coffee, President
Green
Carolina State
Air Power Systems
Pro Tem,
Committee
Chamber
Company
Oklahoma Senate
Georgia Senate
For more information: Todd Young, 770-317-2423 [email protected] © Center for America 2011
250 Willow Springs Drive, Roswell, GA 30075 www.CenterForAmerica.org
Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entreprenuership
Presenter Biographies
(Ordered by Last Name)
Gene Barr..............................................................1
John Calfee...........................................................1
Hon. Ronnie Chance............................................2
Chris Clark............................................................2
Domenick C. DiCicco...........................................3
Lew Ebert..............................................................3
Peter Emanuel......................................................4
Richard A. Epstein...............................................4
Joe T. Fleming.......................................................5
Lee Habeeb...........................................................5
Craig Haffner........................................................6
James Haney.........................................................6
Hugh Hewitt..........................................................7
Richard (Rick) V. Homan, MD.............................7
Larry Horn.............................................................8
Philip K. Howard...................................................8
Wallace Jefferson................................................9
Bob Dorigo Jones.................................................10
Anastasia Kelly.....................................................10
Rebecca Love Kourlis..........................................11
Glenn Lippman.....................................................11
Lawrence McQuillan, Ph.D..................................12
Larry Mocha..........................................................13
Robert E. Norton II...............................................14
Tim Pawlenty........................................................14
John Ratzenberger...............................................15
Eric A. Rubel.........................................................16
Richard P. Rush, CCE...........................................16
Hon. Harold See Jr................................................17
Lynn Shapiro Snyder............................................17
Daniel Sullivan......................................................18
David Thompson...................................................19
Deidrie Towery......................................................19
John Tyler..............................................................20
Partners and Sponsors
Click on the logos to visit their websites.
Presenter Biographies
Gene Barr
Vice President, Government and Public Affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and
Industry
Gene directs all legislative and regulatory activity, ChamberPAC, marketing, membership, and external
communications. During his career in Harrisburg, he has worked on a large number of significant
legislative and regulatory efforts critical to Pennsylvania’s business climate.
Gene has more than 35 years of experience in various facets of government and public
affairs activity as well as business operations. He worked for BP America (the U.S.
subsidiary of British Petroleum) for over twelve years. His career included assignments
in refining at the company’s Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania refinery, retail marketing
at the U.S. headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, and in state government affairs in BP’s
Atlanta, Georgia regional office where he had responsibility for all legislative activities
in six states.
In 1992, he joined the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania (APIP), the
state office of the American Petroleum Institute, as Associate Director. This office is responsible for all
legislative, regulatory, and media activity affecting the major oil companies. In 1997, he was named
Executive Director of APIP.
In 2000, he joined the law firm of McNees Wallace & Nurick, the largest Harrisburg-based law firm, to
start a government relations practice. He established the practice at the firm and then worked briefly at
Triad Strategies, one of Harrisburg’s largest lobbying firms, to help in the strategic alliance of McNees
and Triad.
He previously served as a local elected official in the Philadelphia area for almost ten years. He
graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
Gene joined the Pennsylvania Chamber in February of 2003. He is a registered lobbyist with the
Pennsylvania Department of State.
He has served as a board member and chair of the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Board
which oversees the operation of a $300 million fund. In 2001, he was named by then Pennsylvania
Governor Mark Schweiker to the board of Preservation Pennsylvania. In addition, Gene has been a
guest lecturer at the annual Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and is a member of a number of
historic preservation organizations. He is also a board member of the United Way of Pennsylvania, board
chairman of the National Civil War Museum, serves on the Pennsylvania Stimulus Oversight Commission
and is vice chairman of the Health Care Cost Containment Council.
John Calfee
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Jack Calfee is an economist who studies the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), along with the economics of tobacco, tort liability, and patents. He previously
worked at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics. He has also taught marketing
and consumer behavior at the business schools of the University of Maryland at College Park and
Boston University. While Mr. Calfee’s current writings are mostly on pharmaceutical markets and FDA
regulation, his academic articles and opinion pieces have covered a variety of topics, from patent law
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
and tort liability to advertising and consumer information. He is the author of Prices, Markets, and the
Pharmaceutical Revolution (AEI Press, 2000) and the coauthor of Biotechnology and the Patent System
(AEI Press, 2007). Mr. Calfee also writes regularly for AEI’s Health Policy Outlook
series. He has testified before Congress and federal agencies on various topics,
including alcohol advertising; biodefense vaccine research; international drug prices;
and, most recently, FDA oversight of drug safety.
He was Visiting Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution; Associate Professor, School of
Management, Boston University; Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of
Maryland; and, Economist, Special Assistant to the Director for Consumer Protection,
Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission.
Jack has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. in international
relations from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from Rice University.
Hon. Ronnie Chance
Chairman, Finance Committee, Georgia State Senate
Senator Ronnie Chance, a Republican, was first elected to the state Senate from Georgia’s 16th
District in 2004. He represents Lamar, Pike and parts of Fayette, Monroe and Spalding counties. He
serves as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which combines ways and means, tax and
appropriations legislative activity. He serves on the Government Oversight, Higher
Education, and Economic Development Committees, and serves on Georgia’s
Workforce Investment Board. He is currently the third-ranking officer in Senate
leadership.
Sen. Chance is active in the community, serving on the boards of the Flint River
Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Joseph Sams School, Cochran Mill Nature
Center and the Fayette County Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Sen.
Chance is a graduate of Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business
where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing.
Chris Clark
Managing Director, National Association of Corporate Directors; Publisher, Directorship
Magazine
Christopher Clark joined NACD Directorship as senior vice president and publisher in 2003, and in
2006, was promoted to president and publisher of Directorship Services LLC. He is responsible for
the revenue development of NACD Directorship, Directorship Corporate Governance
Forum events, Directorship.com and the marketing of Directorship Services LLC. Clark
joined NACD Directorship following a decade of service at Forbes, Inc. Most recently,
he was vice president, sales for Forbes.com. Earlier, he served as vice president and
general manager of the Forbes Management Conference Group, a leading producer
of senior-executive meetings. In this capac¬ity, he oversaw sales, marketing, program
development, logistics and site selection for all Forbes conferences. Prior to that
position, he served as Forbes magazine’s financial services advertising director.
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Presenter Biographies
Domenick C. DiCicco
General Counsel, Alexander Gallo Holdings, Inc.; New Jersey Assemblyman
With more than 20 years of corporate litigation experience, Domenick’s career includes litigation and
business performance management, including enterprise best practices, indemnity reduction and cost
reduction. Prior to joining Alexander Gallo Holdings, Domenick served as senior vice president and chief
legal officer of North American Claims (NAC) for Zurich Insurance Group, where he oversaw litigation and
corporate management.
Domenick was a partner with Edelstein, Martin, Nelson, & DiCicco Law Firm in
Philadelphia from 2002 to 2004. During his tenure as a trial attorney, DiCicco
was recognized for obtaining several multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements
with an invitation to become a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum. For
CNA Insurance Companies, he served as counsel for large accounts and national
subrogation counsel.
He serves the New Jersey State Assembly, representing the 4th District, which covers parts of Gloucester
and Camden counties. Most recently, he was awarded a Chartered Merger and Acquisition Professional
credential. Domenick also acts as corporate counsel for the Deptford, New Jersey Fire Department.
Lew Ebert
President and CEO, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce
Lew Ebert became President and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber in 2006. The North Carolina
Chamber is a non-partisan business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory and
political arenas to proactively drive positive change to ensure that North Carolina is a leading place in the
world to do business.
The North Carolina Chamber’s vision under Lew’s leadership is to be the unifying voice of North Carolina’s
diverse business community, and the most unifying business advocacy organization in the state. The
state Chamber works to take a forward-looking, proactive role on issues that will
positively impact the state’s business climate and quality of life – shaping North
Carolina’s future.
The Chamber has a long and rich history as the leading advocate for businesses
of all sizes and sectors in North Carolina. The advocacy mission centers on three
priority areas: 1) education and workforce development, 2) infrastructure, and 3)
competitiveness, or the cost of doing business.
Under Lew’s leadership, the North Carolina Chamber has built a Chamber Federation – a statewide
grassroots advocacy partnership of local Chambers, and small business members - to turn its annual
Jobs Agenda into competitive advantages to help create and retain jobs for the state’s employers.
Additionally under Lew’s leadership, the North Carolina Chamber has established a non-partisan Political
Education Program, providing information and tools for members that allow for effective involvement in
the political process.
The North Carolina Chamber is the state affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce and North Carolina’s
official manufacturers’ association.
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
As President of the state Chamber, Lew is a member of numerous boards and commissions across the
state, including Leadership North Carolina, the Public School Forum, the Science Festival Board, the
Community College Foundation Board, and the Rural Center Board. Additionally, Lew is President and
serves on the Board of Directors for the Council of State Chambers, the national association serving
state chambers of commerce.
Lew, a Pennsylvania native, brought 26 years of state chamber experience to North Carolina. Lew worked
for 23 years at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce where he held several progressively responsible
positions. In 2003, Lew took the post of President and CEO of the Kansas Chamber until he resigned to
come to North Carolina.
Lew graduated college in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Political Science from Millersville University.
Peter Emanuel
Former Senior Vice President, Patents and Licensing, General Electric
Peter Emanuel is a seasoned patent attorney who retired from GE Licensing as Vice President of Patent
Operations in 2005. After retiring from GE, Peter was retained as the Senior IP Consultant for GE Licensing
and continues to have significant responsibilities at GE.
In his role within GE and other companies, Peter has had the opportunity to select,
manage and evaluate patent lawyers at law firms throughout the world. Peter
personally has initiated, participated in and successfully completed a large number of
patent licensing programs in a variety of technologies that have contributed multiple
billions of royalty dollars to RCA, Thomson and GE.
Richard A. Epstein
Professor, NYU Law School
Richard A. Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the Laurence
A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University and the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service
Professor of Law at the University of Chicago.
In 2005 he was named by Legal Affairs magazine as one of the twenty leading legal thinkers in the
United States. Also in 2005, the College of William & Mary School of Law awarded him
the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize.
Epstein is known for his research and writing in a broad range of constitutional,
economic, historical and philosophical subjects. Among the subjects he has taught
at the University of Chicago are communications law, constitutional law, contracts,
corporation criminal law, employment discrimination law, health law, jurisprudence,
labor law, patents, property, torts, Roman law, real estate development and finance,
and individual and corporate taxation.
He edited the Journal of Legal Studies (1981–91) and the Journal of Law and Economics (1991–2001).
He is now a director of its Olin Program in Law and Economics. He served as interim dean of the
University of Chicago Law School in the spring of 2001. He is a general columnist for the National Law
Journal and writes for the Tech Forum on FT.com.
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Presenter Biographies
His recent books include The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover Institution Press,
2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property (2008); How
the Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (2006); Overdose (Yale University Press, 2006); Free Markets
under Siege: Cartels, Politics and Social Welfare (Hoover Institution Press, 2005).
He received a B.A. degree in philosophy summa cum laude from Columbia in 1964. He received a B.A.
degree in law with first-class honors from Oxford University in 1966 and an LL.B. degree, cum laude,
from the Yale Law School in 1968. Upon his graduation he joined the faculty at the University of Southern
California, where he taught until 1972. In 1972, he visited the University of Chicago and became a
regular member of the faculty the following year. He was named James Parker Hall Professor in 1982 and
Distinguished Service Professor in 1988.
Joe T. Fleming
Policy Consultant; Former Senior Vice President, Georgia State Chamber
Prior to becoming a policy consultant, Joe Fleming served for four years as Senior Vice President of
Government Affairs for the Georgia Chamber. He led the government affairs team to lobby the General
Assembly on behalf of the Georgia Chamber and its members for all of the issues that affect business in
Georgia.
Under Fleming’s leadership, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has been named the “most influential”
lobbying organization at the state Capitol two of the past three years. In 2008, Fleming was named the
second most influential organizational lobbyist at the Capitol, up from fourth in 2007.
Prior to joining the Georgia Chamber, Joe was Assistant Vice President, Privacy and
External Affairs at Equifax, Inc. from 1999-2005. In that position, he headed the
company’s state government relations functions. From 1994-1999, he served as
Senior Director, Public Affairs for the American Insurance Association, where he was
responsible for communications, media relations and grassroots lobbying programs.
Fleming has spent many years in the communications field, and has served in a variety
of political campaigns throughout the state.
Fleming received his B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations and a minor in Political Science from the
University of Georgia in 1985. He is an eighth generation Georgian and a native of Atlanta.
Lee Habeeb
Vice President, Content Development, Salem Radio Network (SRN)
Lee was the co-creator and Executive Producer of The Laura Ingraham Show (Westwood One, 2001)
which cracked the Talkers Magazine Top 5 in America in just 5 years, becoming the #1 Show in its daily
time slot 9:00 am–noon ET.
In 2007, Lee joined talk radio powerhouse Salem Radio Network’s team of hosts as Network Director of
Strategic Content. Salem’s roster consists of Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt,
and Dennis Prager.
Lee has spoken extensively at talk radio industry conventions and written columns for USA Today and the
National Review. SRN president Greg R. Anderson said that Lee was “at the very top of an elite cadre of
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
incredibly talented talk radio producers who create powerful, compelling radio content.” Anderson added
that, “Lee knows better than anyone in our industry how to stage-manage the resources of TV, radio, print
and pop culture into a tour de force of tremendous depth and excitement day after day.”
Lee has also created several hit YouTube videos, including a William F. Buckley video tribute just after the
great conservative’s death in February of 2008.
As Vice President of Content Development at Salem Radio Network, Lee was instrumental in drafting
and developing the FreeOurHealthCareNow.com petition, which was delivered to Congress in September
2009 and was the largest public policy petition in U.S. history with over 1.3 million signatures.
He graduated from University of Virginia School of Law in 1991.
Craig Haffner
Writer/Producer; Founder, Greystone Films & Television
Craig is a Tony Award nominated Broadway Producer and an Emmy award winning television Writer/
Producer.
Craig’s Hollywood writing career launched in situation comedies for CBS and ABC and
progressed into marketing and advertising at CBS and ABC Networks. This included
executive and producing roles for the ABC Television Network and the ABC station
group, including KABC TV, from 1983-1987. In the mid-80s, Craig founded Greystone
Films & Television which produced hundreds of hours of factual, scripted and live
event programming as well as feature films.
He is a founding partner of New Comic(book) Company, purchasing all rights to the
Warren Publications comic book and graphic novel titles CREEPY Magazine, EERIE Magazine. Craig is the
recipient of the comic industry’s highest honor, the Eisner Award.
Broadway theatre projects began in 2008 with Allan Knee’s THE JAZZ AGE and John Berendt’s MIDNIGHT
IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD & EVIL. In 2009, he made his Broadway Producing debut with the revival of
RAGTIME, the recipient of 7 Tony Award nominations and 9 Drama Desk Award nominations.
He has been a member of the Board of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and served as CoChairman of the Television Academy’s “TV Responds 9/11” Committee. He also serves as a Presidential
Appointee to The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Craig is a member of the Board of the
Center for America.
James Haney
President and CEO, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
A native of Amery, Wisconsin, Jim Haney has a background in both the public and private sectors. He
was an aide to Wisconsin’s Governor Warren Knowles, and served as assistant to the Secretary of
the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations, and as Deputy Secretary of the
Wisconsin Department of Revenue under Governor Lee Dreyfus.
With a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he practiced law and then served as Public
Affairs Director of the Bergstrom Paper Company in Neenah. Jim was also District Manager of Public
Affairs for Wisconsin Bell before he joined Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.
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Presenter Biographies
In June of 1985, Jim became President of WMC, which is often referred to as “the
state’s largest and most influential business and industrial organization, representing
approximately 3,500 members statewide.”
Jim is a member of the Wisconsin PK-16 Council, Wisconsin Council on Workforce
Investment, Project Lead the Way-Wisconsin Executive Council, Wisconsin Center
for Manufacturing & Productivity, Inc., Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension
Partnership Board and the UW-Extension Board of Visitors. Jim also serves on the
board of Kikkoman Foods, Inc., the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts and is past President of the
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. Jim is also a past Chairman of the Conference of State
Manufacturing Associations.
Hugh Hewitt
Host, The Hugh Hewitt Show, nationally syndicated radio program (Salem Radio)
Professor Hewitt is a lawyer, law professor and broadcast journalist whose nationally syndicated radio
show is heard in more than 120 cities across the United States every weekday afternoon.
Professor Hewitt is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law
School, and has been teaching Constitutional Law at Chapman University Law School
since it opened in 1995. He has received three Emmys for his work as co-host of the
ground-breaking Life & Times program, a nightly news and public affairs program that
aired on the Los Angeles PBS affiliate, KCET, from 1992 until 2007. Professor Hewitt
also conceived and hosted the 1996 PBS series, Searching for God in America. He is
the author of a dozen books, including two New York Times best-sellers.
Professor Hewitt is best known as the host of his radio show, which has an audience estimated at more
than 2 million listeners every week. Since its debut in July of 2000, Professor Hewitt has conducted
groundbreaking interviews with government officials from both parties and widely respected analysts,
authors and pundits.
Richard (Rick) V. Homan, MD
Annenberg Dean, Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, Drexel University College of
Medicine, Philadelphia
Dr. Homan joined Drexel University College of Medicine in 2005 from the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center, where he was dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for clinical affairs.
At Texas Tech, Dr. Homan served on the faculty for 16 years in numerous positions. As
dean and vice president for clinical affairs, he oversaw comprehensive management
of all activities of the School of Medicine, Office of Managed Care, and the faculty
practice plan, and served as chief executive officer of a $300 million operating
budget. He was also responsible for improving the school’s capital infrastructure and
completed the school’s first curriculum redesign since its founding in 1969.
A licensed medical physician and surgeon, Dr. Homan is a diplomate of the National
Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Family Practice. He holds certificates of added
qualifications in geriatric medicine and sports medicine.
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
He has received more than $9.5 million in extramural funding for scholarly activities related to the
development of community-based medical education programs, healthy aging, cardiovascular disease
and stroke.
He graduated from Brown University, (ScB, Biomedical Science), 1978 and the State University of New
York at Buffalo School of Medicine, (M.D.), 1982
Larry Horn
CEO, MPEG LA
Larry Horn is CEO of MPEG LA, LLC. MPEG LA which provides the marketplace with fair, reasonable,
non-discriminatory access to a portfolio of worldwide essential patents under a single license. MPEG
LA successfully pioneered one-stop technology standards licensing with the international digital video
compression standard known as MPEG-2, which it began licensing in 1997. One-stop technology
standards licensing enables widespread technological implementation, interoperability
and use of fundamental broad-based technologies covered by many patents owned by
many patent owners.
Before joining MPEG LA, Larry was Head, Business Development, Marketing and Sales
for Martek Biosciences Corporation (NASDAQ:MATK) where he launched the company’s
first nutritional/medical product lines, evaluated and developed new business ventures
and planned intellectual property strategies (1994-97); President and Owner of HKM
Corporation which helped organize Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.; and advised early stage investors
in The Discovery Channel and devised business plans for media industry and other financing (1985-93).
He served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) where he
was recognized for turning around the US public television network through a restructuring of its network
distribution, programming and labor assets. He also managed human resources, labor negotiations and
conference services while the board searched for a new president (1978-85). Larry was an attorney
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of General Counsel (1975-78); and Adjunct
Professor of Chinese Law, Georgetown University Law Centre.
Larry graduated from Yale University (BA, Chinese Studies) and Columbia University (J.D.) where he was
awarded the law school’s highest honour for writing.
Philip K. Howard
Chairman, Common Good; Vice Chairman, Covington & Burling
Philip K. Howard is the author of The Death of Common Sense: How Law is
Suffocating America (Random House 1995), The Collapse of the Common Good:
How America’s Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom (Ballantine 2002), and
Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans From Too Much Law (Norton 2009). He
is a periodic contributor to the op-ed pages of the The New York Times and the Wall
Street Journal, as well as a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com, and speaks before
judicial, government, and professional organizations around the country. In the Oxford
Companion To American Law, Philip contributed the section on American law since
1968. He is a prominent civic leader in New York.
Philip has advised leaders of both political parties on reform initiatives. He was special advisor to
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Presenter Biographies
the Securities and Exchange Commission on regulatory simplification, worked on environmental
and management reforms with Vice President Al Gore’s reinventing government program, advised
the Republican leadership on regulatory reform, and worked on overhauling civil service and
other bureaucratic institutions with several governors, including Zell Miller in Georgia, Bill Weld in
Massachusetts and Jeb Bush and Lawton Chiles in Florida. Philip grew up in small towns in the south,
the son of a Presbyterian minister.
He was a scholarship student at Taft School, Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School.
Wallace Jefferson
Chief Justice Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice Jefferson was recently unanimously elected by his peers across the country to become
President of the Conference of Chief Justices in 2010-2011, where he will guide national judicial policy.
Wallace Jefferson has twice made history as the first African American Justice and Chief Justice on
the Supreme Court of Texas. Chief Justice Jefferson was appointed to the Court in 2001, making him
Governor Perry’s first appointment to a statewide judicial office. He was elected in
2002 with 60% of the vote in the contested Republican primary, and 56% of the vote
in the contested general election. In 2004, Governor Perry promoted him to Chief
Justice. In 2006, Chief Justice Jefferson earned more votes than any other candidate
for State office.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Philosophy from James Madison College at
Michigan State University in 1985, and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from
the University of Texas School of Law. He is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of
Legal Specialization.
Chief Justice Jefferson developed an early interest in appellate law as a student of the late constitutional
scholar Charles Alan Wright. In 1989, he joined the appellate section of Groce, Locke & Hebdon in San
Antonio. He founded his own appellate law firm with Tom Crofts and Sharon Callaway in 1991. Crofts,
Callaway and Jefferson soon became one of the preeminent appellate practices in Texas.
He quickly earned a reputation for appellate excellence. He successfully argued two cases before the
United States Supreme Court by age 35, which is an accomplishment earned by less than one percent
of lawyers in the country. His experience arguing at the highest court in the land, combined with his
frequent appearances before the Supreme Court of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit, brings a unique and valuable perspective to the bench.
Chief Justice Jefferson is the descendant of a slave, who was owned by a Waco, Texas judge before
the Civil War. That slave, Shedrick Willis, served his community as a two-term member of the Waco City
Council after the War. Chief Justice Jefferson’s family history is a testament to the perseverance of the
individual human spirit, and his role as Chief Justice proves the enduring strength of our Constitution.
Michigan State University honored Chief Justice Jefferson with its Outstanding Alumnus award in 2007.
He received the University of Texas School of Law’s Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2005 and the James
Madison College Distinguished Alumnus award in 2002. He was President of the San Antonio Bar
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Association in 1998 and the William S. Sessions American Inn of Court in 1999. Chief Justice Jefferson
was recognized as a Pillar of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio. In 2006, Chief
Justice Jefferson received the Houston Lawyer’s Association Robert L. Hainsworth Outstanding Service
Award. In 2007, Chief Justice Jefferson’s parents greeted students at the new “Wallace B. Jefferson
Middle School” in San Antonio.
Chief Justice Jefferson has lectured across the country on appellate advocacy.
Bob Dorigo Jones
Senior Fellow, Center for America
Bob Dorigo Jones is the author of the bestselling Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest, Silliest
and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever. He is the host of a new national radio/Internet commentary, “Let’s
Be Fair,” through which he shares important stories about the impact of crazy lawsuits and a litigationhappy culture on our communities and families.
Bob has overseen high-profile programs calling attention to the absurdity of lawsuit
abuse, including the internationally profiled annual Wacky Warning Labels™ Contest.
He has appeared on dozens of national and international TV and radio programs,
including NBC Nightly News, ABC News’ 20/20, BBC WorldNews, FOX News, and CNBC.
Bob, who served as president of Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (M-LAW), a Center for
America partner organization, has focused for nearly two decades on educating the
public about how families, communities, and job providers are hurt by out-of-control lawsuit abuse.
Prior to joining CFA and M-LAW, he served on the staff of the Michigan House of Representatives. He
received a B.A. in economics and political philosophy from James Madison College at Michigan State
University.
Anastasia Kelly
Partner, DLA Piper; former Vice Chairman and General Counsel, AIG
Stasia Kelly is a partner in DLA Piper’s White Collar, Corporate Crime and Investigations practice, based
in Washington, DC. She is also a member of DLA Piper’s Corporate and Finance and Public Company and
Corporate Governance practices.
Previously she was with American International Group, Inc. (AIG), where until the end of 2009 she
was Vice Chairman in charge of global legal, compliance and regulatory functions,
government relations, communications, corporate affairs and human resources. Stasia
joined AIG as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Senior Regulatory and
Compliance Officer in 2006. In the wake of the financial crisis, she was named AIG’s
Vice Chairman in January 2009.
Prior to joining AIG, she was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of MCI/
WorldCom. There, she served as the Chief Legal Officer in the company’s restructuring
from 2003 until its acquisition by Verizon in 2006.
Previously, she was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sears, Roebuck and Co. There, Stasia
restructured the legal and compliance teams in the wake of the company’s Bankruptcy Code issues in its
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Presenter Biographies
credit card division.
Before her tenure at Sears, she served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary at Fannie Mae. At Fannie Mae, she centralized the company’s legal and compliance function
and upgraded the talent across Fannie Mae’s five offices nationwide.
Earlier in her career, Stasia was a partner and associate with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now Wilmer
Hale) where her practice spanned several areas of law, including regulation of financial institutions
and securities firms, corporate and securities and intellectual property. She was also associated with
Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, of Dallas, where her practice encompassed general and
business litigation.
Stasia received her law degree magna cum laude from George Washington University, where she was a
member of the Order of the Coif, and her undergraduate degree cum laude from Trinity University.
She serves as a director of O-I (formerly, Owens-Illinois), the world’s largest manufacturer of glass
packaging, and as a trustee of the Carey School of Business at The John Hopkins University. Stasia is
also a member of the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University Law School. She is
past chair of Equal Justice Works and a director of Lawyers for Children America and the International
Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. She is a member of the Texas Bar, the District of Columbia
Bar and the American Bar Foundation.
Rebecca Love Kourlis
Executive Director, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System
Rebecca Love Kourlis served Colorado’s courts for nearly two decades—first as a trial court judge and
then as a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. In January 2006, she established the Institute for the
Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver, where
she is executive director.
IAALS is a national, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving the process
and culture of the American civil justice system. The Institute conducts research
and develops policy recommendations in the areas of civil justice reform, civil case
management, judicial selection and judicial performance evaluation.
Most recently, the Institute announced the formation of the O’Connor Judicial
Selection Initiative, in order to provide states with an interest in moving from direct election of judges to a
commission-based system, with the tools to achieve this goal.
Justice Kourlis holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from Stanford University.
Glenn Lippman
President and CEO, Novoseal Corporation
Glenn Lippman is President and CEO, Novaseal Corporation, based in Boca Raton, Florida. He is a
business leader, inventor and serial entrepreneur.
During his 30+ year career, he has helped thousands of people and corporations license and profit from
their intellectual property while serving as president of MORE Advantage, Inc. (a Colorado corporation).
During the same time, Glenn founded Novaseal Corporation, a U.S.-based Florida high tech engineering
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
and manufacturing company. Novaseal began as a prototype developer for inventor clients of MORE
Advantage and within a few years became Glenn’s personal outlet for his numerous inventions and
patents involving thermodynamics and industrial automation which have become
Novaseal’s top selling products for heat sealing industrial fabrics.
Glenn has published several articles and is a popular speaker on the subject
of invention licensing, invention marketing and venues associated with small
manufacturers, made in USA and public education issues.
He was also formerly the business representative for Colorado State Standards on
K12 education and chaired Board of Advisors of the Colorado Community College
system with emphasis on curriculum changes to meet industry requirements. He is an acting director for
several entrepreneurial companies.
Glenn has a B.S. in Physics from Florida Institute of Technology.
Lawrence McQuillan, Ph.D.
Director of Business and Economic Studies and Senior Fellow in Political Economy, Pacific
Research Institute
Human Events describes Dr. McQuillian as a “distinguished conservative leader” in public policy.
Since joining PRI in 2001, he has specialized in tax, budget, regulation, and lawsuit-reform issues. He
is coauthor of Jackpot Justice (cited in The Economist and Washington Post), Tort Law Tally, and the
U.S. Tort Liability Index. Because of this work, PRI is now one of the nation’s “leading organizational
proponents of tort reform” (Journal of Empirical Legal Studies). He is also coauthor of
the U.S. Economic Freedom Index, published with Forbes, which ranks the 50 states
according to how friendly or unfriendly their state-government policies are to free
enterprise and consumer choice.
Lawrence speaks regularly to civic and policy groups across the country and to
reporters around the world. His television appearances include NBC news, FOX,
CNBC, and CNN. YouTube hosts some of his interviews. He is a frequent guest on
nationally syndicated radio talk shows hosted by Ron Insana, Jim Bohannon, Roger Hedgecock, Ronn
Owens, and Lars Larson to name a few. He advises lawmakers and advocacy groups around the world,
provides legislative testimony, and was a member of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s task force on a
constitutional spending limit for California.
Lawrence has more than 240 publications in such leading outlets as the Wall Street Journal, New York
Times, Chicago Sun -Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York
Daily News, Weekly Standard, Forbes, USA Today, and Investor’s Business Daily. He writes on such
topics as lawsuit abuse, economic freedom, tax and spending limits, workers’ compensation, and medical
liability reform.
Lawrence created the California Golden Fleece Awards, exposing fraud and abuse in California
government. Cited in The Nation and the Los Angeles Times, these awards led to the overhaul of the
California Victim Compensation Program, helped reform California’s workers’ compensation system, and
made PRI “one of the leading players” to end direct taxpayer funding of the U.C. Miguel Contreras Labor
Program.
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Presenter Biographies
From 1998 until 2001, he was a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, where he
specialized in international economics. He edited the book The International Monetary Fund—Financial
Medic to the World? (translated into Japanese) and wrote the study The Case against the International
Monetary Fund, which Nobel laureate Milton Friedman reviewed as “excellent.”
From 1993 until 1997, Lawrence was the founding publisher and contributing editor of Economic Issues,
a national subscription newsletter based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which reviewed economic journal
articles relevant to current public-policy issues.
While in graduate school at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he earned an MA and PhD
in economics, McQuillan was a research assistant for Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan and received
the H. B. Earhart Fellowship for research excellence. Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, awarded
him a BA in economics and business administration.
Larry Mocha
President, Air Power Systems Company, Inc. (APSCO)
Larry Mocha is President and CEO, APSCO, Inc. A manufacturer of pneumatic cylinders and valves for
the truck equipment industry, APSCO, Inc. has grown from $600,000 annual sales in 1984 to almost
$10 million in 2006. During the recent economic downturn, APSCO has turned its attention to seeking
expanded markets for its products and manufacturing capacity and designing
innovations to existing products which can be used in a green economy.
In 2010, he was appointed by Oklahoma Governor, Brad Henry, as Chairman of the
Governor’s 2011 Conference on Small Business. He is a monthly contributor on
CNBC’s Small Business Segment to discuss relevant issues impacting small business
owners.
He is Chairman of The Oklahoma State Chamber, a member of the U.S. Chamber Small
Business Council, and a former member of the U.S. Chamber Board of Directors. Since 1997, Larry has
been a member of the President’s Council, National Association of Manufacturers.
In 2010, Larry was reappointed by Governor Brad Henry as member, Board of Trustees for Oklahoma
State University/Tulsa for a term expiring June 30, 2017. He has served as OSU/Tulsa’s board chairman
and vice chairman.
He served as Chairman of the Tulsa Mayor’s Initiative on Small Business in 2009. In 2007, he became
the Co-Chair of the Center for Legislative Excellence. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Board of
Directors and past Chairman, Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri
In 2002, he was appointed by Governor Keating as Chairman, Small Business Regulatory Flexibility
Committee (OK SBREFA) and was reappointed by Governor Brad Henry in 2006.
In 2004, he was selected for the White House Conference panel on Securing our Economic Future, Tax
and Regulatory Burdens.
He has testified at U. S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
Committee on Small Business, “The Impact of Energy Policy on Small Business”.
He graduated from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Business.
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Robert E. Norton II
Vice President, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
In 2009, Bob Norton was named Vice President for Donor Relations at the Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this role he serves as the primary interface to create
collaborative giving options with other foundations, entities and individuals whose mission is similar to
that of The Foundation’s efforts.
Prior to joining The Bradley Foundation, Mr. Norton was the Assistant General Counsel
for Chrysler LLC where he served as the Chief Class Action & Vehicle Regulatory
Counsel for seven years.
From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Norton served as Associate General Counsel for Visteon
Corporation, a major automotive parts supplier and spin-off from Ford Motor Company.
Mr. Norton also previously served as Assistant General Counsel of LucasVarity PLC.
While there, Mr. Norton completed an international assignment while living abroad in
England. His professional scope included a broad range of international matters related to high-tech
innovations, patent disputes and international contract law.
Mr. Norton has taught and has been a guest lecturer for the University of Michigan MBA program and the
University of Michigan and Michigan State University Law Schools. He has conducted training programs
throughout the United States and world including: Germany, Japan, France, England, Canada and the
United States. In addition, he has authored two academic web-based training programs and is published
in the Georgetown Journal of International Law.
Mr. Norton received his Juris doctorate degree from University of Michigan. Currently he is a member of
the Federalist Society, the Executive Committee for the Heritage Foundation and the Milwaukee Rotary
Club.
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation is a private foundation, providing grants in support of
democratic capitalism; limited, competent government; a dynamic marketplace for economic, intellectual,
and cultural activity; and a vigorous defense at home and abroad of American ideas and institutions.
Tim Pawlenty
Former Governor, Minnesota
Tim Pawlenty is regarded as one of the nation’s most innovative, energetic, reform-minded and
accomplished governors. Having completed his second term as the 39th governor of Minnesota,
Governor Pawlenty has brought increased accountability to state government, held the line on taxes,
improved K-12 education standards and made Minnesota a leader in energy reform.
As Governor, he has balanced Minnesota’s budget three times without raising
taxes, despite facing record budget deficits. Governor Pawlenty’s most notable
accomplishments include proposing and signing into law significant new benefits
for veterans and members of the military; enacting a property tax cap, eliminating
the marriage penalty and cutting taxes; toughening the state’s education standards;
reforming the way teachers are paid through a nation-leading performance pay
plan; instituting free-market health care reforms that increase accountability and provide tax credits
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Presenter Biographies
to encourage the use of health savings accounts; and implementing a plan to Americanize our energy
sources by generating 25 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
Under Governor Pawlenty’s leadership, Minnesota has led the nation in a variety of measures. Minnesota ranks first among states in Fortune 500 companies per capita, first in overall quality of life,
first in homeownership, first in percentage of residents with a high school diploma, and first in residents
over 25 with a bachelors degree. Minnesota has the highest average ACT scores in the nation and is
among the “Healthiest States in America.”
Pawlenty grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota. The only child in his family to graduate from college, he
attended the University of Minnesota and practiced law in the private sector. His public service career
includes serving as a criminal prosecutor, Eagan City Councilmember, and ten-year member of the
Minnesota House of Representatives, including four years as House Majority Leader. Pawlenty served
as Chair of the National Governors Association and on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the
Achieve Inc. Board of Directors and the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute Board of Directors. He is Chair of the
Education Commission of the States and former Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.
John Ratzenberger
Actor; Producer/Host, “Made in America”; Producer, “Industrial Tsunami”; Center for
America Senior Fellow
John is leading a national campaign to educate, motivate and empower Americans to work together to
rebuild America. He is bringing the message to company, community and government leader meetings
that there is an urgent need to rebuild our skilled workforce, restore fairness to our civil justice systems
and reduce barriers to our Free Enterprise system for entrepreneurs and innovators.
John produced and hosted 97 episodes of “Made in America” for the Travel Channel. This series
featured the enterprise of American entrepreneurs across the country. It established television
precedent and led the way for a new series of shows including: “Dirty Jobs”; “Deadliest
Catch”; “Ice Road Truckers”; and more. All of these shows celebrate the American
work ethic.
While visiting factories that in John’s words, “provide the backbone of our civilization,”
he learned that the average age of skilled manufacturing workers is about 55 years
old. John realized that the essential workforce necessary for our infrastructure and
very existence of our civilization will disappear within six to ten years. John is taking
the lead in a national public awareness campaign to mobilize Americans to rebuild our skilled work force
through local and national initiatives.
Earlier in his career, John founded Eco Pak Industries, a company that developed and manufactured
packaging alternatives made from biodegradable and non-toxic recycled paper as a safe alternative to
Styrofoam “peanuts” and plastic bubble wrap. John sold the company in 1999 and since then, it has
grown to five manufacturing plants and the product is used worldwide.
John is on the boards of Pepperdine University and is the recipient of two honorary Doctorate degrees.
He coauthored We’ve Got it Made in America: A Common Man’s Salute to an Uncommon Country, which
was published by Time Warner.
As measured by total box office receipts, John Ratzenberger is the 6th most successful actor of all time.
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
His ten years performing in over 28 films in Europe and his 15 year association with Pixar studios has
yielded a total of more than $3 billion for projects featuring the well known actor. John is the only actor to
have voiced a character in every Pixar movie since Toy Story 15 years ago.
John is best known for playing mail carrier Cliff Clavin on the sitcom Cheers. Cliff and Norm, the primary
customer characters, became iconic bar buddies. Cheers won 28 Emmy Awards, ran for 11 years and
became one of the most successful sitcoms in television history.
John is a Senior Fellow and a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for America.
Eric A. Rubel
Partner, Arnold & Porter
Eric Rubel is co-chair of the firm’s product liability litigation practice group. He served as General Counsel
to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from 1994 to 1997.
Mr. Rubel focuses his practice on product safety matters and related litigation. He has extensive
experience as a product safety lawyer helping companies assess their compliance with CPSC regulations,
in developing effective recalls in the US and as part of coordinated global corrective action plans, and in
defending CPSC enforcement actions. He also represents a number of companies, both large and small,
in helping them to understand, comply with, and adapt their operations to address the
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)—groundbreaking legislation that
was signed into law in August 2008.
In addition, Mr. Rubel manages and coordinates the various litigation and regulatory
matters that may arise out of product safety issues—including class action consumer
litigation, business disputes, and ongoing compliance with agency regulations. In
2007 and 2008, Mr. Rubel successfully led the defense of a major retailer in defeating
class certification in two cases in which plaintiffs sought to require the nationwide recall of products.
In those same cases, Mr. Rubel helped obtain from CPSC decisions that the products did not present a
substantial product hazard, and thus that recalls were not warranted.
Mr. Rubel’s experience as a product safety lawyer includes representing manufacturers, distributors,
and retailers of clothing, toys and other children’s products, sporting goods, household appliances,
furniture, heating and cooling equipment, computer equipment, premiums, building materials, fire safety
equipment, packaging, motor vehicle equipment, pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics, and other products.
Further, Mr. Rubel has experience assisting companies in conducting due diligence concerning product
safety issues in connection with mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Rubel writes and speaks frequently on the CPSIA and other product safety issues.
He previously served as law clerk to the Hon. Jane A. Restani, US Court of International Trade.
Richard P. Rush, CCE
Vice Chairman, Center for America
Dick Rush served as President and CEO of The State Chamber of Oklahoma for 23 years until his
retirement on March 31, 2010. Under his leadership, The State Chamber became a national leader in
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Presenter Biographies
passing many pro-jobs laws including a landmark tort reform law in 2009, workers comp reform, a Rightto-Work Constitutional Amendment in 2001, plus many other successful business campaigns.
Dick is also Chairman of Rush Strategies LLC, an association management and
advocacy organization that helps business people and trade organizations speak out
with impact on policy issues crucial to their bottom lines.
Prior to joining The State Chamber of Oklahoma in 1986, Dick served for nearly
six years as Regional Manager for the United States Chamber of Commerce’s
Southwestern Office in Dallas. For four years he worked at the California State
Chamber developing a Legislative Action Program for Small Business and as Executive
Vice President of CACCE.
He began his chamber career at the San Francisco Chamber and later took the helm of the San Rafael
Chamber. His 38-year Chamber career spanned seven states and many foreign economies.
Dick has served as chairman or board member of a wide range of business and civic organizations
including: Chairman of the Council of State Chambers (COSC), the Oklahoma Business Roundtable,
Oklahoma Business Circle for Arts Education, Salvation Army Advisory Board, Governor’s International
Team, Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center (now i2E) and Oklahoma 21st Century Research
Foundation.
His 20-year work with China has established two Sister State Chambers in the Provinces of Gansu and
Liaoning.
Hon. Harold See Jr.
Retired Justice, Alabama Supreme Court
Justice See is a legal scholar and was an Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1997
to 2009. The son of Harold F. See, Sr. and Corinne See, he was born at the Great Lakes Naval Training
Center in Illinois while his father was serving with the United States Navy in the South Pacific.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emporia State University, Emporia,
Kansas, his M.Sc in economics from Iowa State University, and his JD from the
University of Iowa College of Law, where he graduated with honors and was awarded
the Order of the Coif.
Justice See worked his way through school as a heavy equipment operator, a sheet
metal worker, and a roofer. He served as Assistant Professor of Economics at Illinois
State University and practiced law with the law firm of Sidley & Austin. He joined the
faculty at the University of Alabama School of Law, where he served for over twenty years successively
as Associate Professor, Full Professor, and Herbert D. Warner Professor of Law. In 1996, he was elected
Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Lynn Shapiro Snyder
Senior Member, EpsteinBeckerGreen
Ms. Snyder is in the Health Care and Life Sciences and Litigation practices in the firm’s Washington,
DC, office, and she is Strategic Counsel with EBG Advisors, Inc. Ms. Snyder has over thirty years of
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
experience at EpsteinBeckerGreen, advising clients about federal, state, and international health law
issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, compliance, and managed care issues. Her clients
include health care providers, payors, pharmaceutical/device manufacturers, and those companies and
financial services firms that support the health care industry. She is a frequent speaker and publishes
extensively.
Modern Healthcare magazine named Ms. Snyder as one of the “Top 25 Women in
Healthcare.” In Nightingale’s Healthcare News, Ms. Snyder was named one of the
“Outstanding Fraud & Compliance Lawyers for 2006.” Beginning in 2006, Ms. Snyder
has been listed in the specialty of Health Care Law in The Best Lawyers in America. In
2007, Ms. Snyder was presented with the 2007 Women to Watch Award by the Jewish
Women International. Ms. Snyder was listed as one of the “Top 50 Women Lawyers in
Washington, DC” in 2008, according to Super Lawyers. Chambers USA - 2008 named
Lynn Snyder as a Leader in the Health Care & Life Sciences field. She also has been quoted in The New
York Times and other leading publications.
Ms. Snyder is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of corporate governance and gender diversity
in the boardroom. She was named a “Director to Watch” by Directors & Boards magazine in 2009. She
is co-author of three editions of the book Answering the Call: Understanding the Duties, Risks, and
Rewards of Corporate Governance.
Ms. Snyder is Founder and board member of the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care
Industry Foundation.™ Epstein Becker & Green is the founding sponsor of this Foundation. See www.
womenleadinghealthcare.org. She has authored Advancing Women in Business: 10 Best Practices.
Through Ms. Snyder’s efforts, the WBL Foundation has held seven successful Summits (the WBL
Foundation’s major annual networking event), and Ms. Snyder has grown the WBL Foundation from
a select group of 40 to include a network of over 2,000 senior executive women and women board
members from across the health care and life sciences industries – both in the United States and
abroad.
Ms. Snyder joined the firm in 1979 and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State
of Florida, and before the United States Supreme Court. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Franklin
& Marshall College and her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1979.
Daniel Sullivan
State Representative, Oklahoma House of Representatives
House Majority Floor Leader Dan Sullivan was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives
in 2004 to represent House District 71 of Tulsa. During his first term in the legislature, he was selected
by House Speaker Todd Hiett to serve as the Majority Floor Leader. Representative
Sullivan was reelected in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
During his third term in office, Sullivan served as Chairman of the Economic
Development and Financial Services Committee and was a member of Common
Education, Judiciary and the Public Safety & Judiciary Appropriation & Budget
Subcommittee.
Representative Sullivan was appointed the Majority Floor Leader for the 53rd
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Presenter Biographies
Oklahoma Legislature.
Representative Sullivan has been involved with legislation dealing with lawsuit reform, worker’s
compensation reform, public safety and water issues related to the water supply for the City of Tulsa.
Sullivan also continues to practice law as an Of Counsel attorney with the Pierce, Couch, Hendrickson,
Baysinger and Green, LLP firm in its Tulsa office. His primary area of practice has been representing
physicians in medical malpractice cases as well as other professionals and business litigation.
David Thompson
Publisher, The Oklahoman
David began his career at The Oklahoman in 1974 as a member of the retail
advertising staff. In 1977, he became Advertising Director at the Colorado Springs
Sun, a newspaper The Oklahoma Publishing Company purchased. He returned to
The Oklahoman in 1987 as Advertising Director and remained there for 14 years until
becoming Vice President of Advertising for The Charlotte Observer. In 2003, he was
named Publisher of The Oklahoman and returned to Oklahoma City. In 2007 he also
became President of OPUBCO Communications Group, a multimedia division of the
Oklahoma Publishing Company.
Deidrie Towery
President, Founder and President, ProActive Business Solutions, Inc.
ProActive, a leading IT support company, has been honored as one of the 100 Fastest Growing Private
Companies in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times; one of the 100 Largest Women-Owned
Businesses in the Bay Area; one of the 25 Largest Women-Owned Businesses in the East Bay; Oakland
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Woman-Owned Business of the Year and a Woman of Distinction
(technology field) by the Business Times.
Deidrie, known as DeeDee, has been a pioneer in technology for the last 25 years,
primarily involved in project management and managed services. She has designed
and installed computer systems all over the world in a wide variety of industries
including hospitality, financial services, computer technology, semiconductors and
others.
In 1998, she founded ProActive with two employees and has since grown the company
to over 250 full-time and part-time employees throughout the United States and
Canada. ProActive provides technology, including specialized technology relocation services; IT support
services, systems design services, and laboratory and cleanroom services.
DeeDee is passionate about delivering quality services on-time and on-budget with close attention to
her clients’ needs. She has built long-term relationships with a wide variety of companies in the Bay
Area and elsewhere in the United States, including Hewlett-Packard, Applied Materials, Banc of America
Securities, Kaiser Permanente, Brocade Communication Systems, Microsoft, AOL, Amtrak, the Port of
Oakland, Shell Oil and others.
DeeDee graduated Summa Cum Laude from UC Berkeley and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
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Center for America Summit - The Outlook for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
John Tyler
General Counsel, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
As the Foundation’s general counsel, secretary, and chief ethics officer, John Tyler manages all legal
aspects of the Foundation’s operations, including governance, intellectual property, employment,
investments, and compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.
John is a frequent presenter on such diverse topics as nonprofit governance, private
foundations, intellectual property, and advancing university innovation for national
organizations such as the Philanthropy Roundtable, Association of Small Foundations,
the Council on Foundations, the American Bar Association Committee on Taxation, the
Max Planck Institute, Indian Institute of Science, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
John has authored or coauthored numerous scholarly articles published in law reviews
and legal journals, such as a recent article on advancing university innovation in the University of
Minnesota Law School’s Journal of Law, Science and Technology. He is also the co-author (with Evelyn
Brody) of the monograph How Public is Private Philanthropy? Separating Reality from Myth (Philanthropy
Roundtable 2009).
Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation in 1999, John was a partner with one of Kansas City’s oldest
and largest law firms, Lathrop and Gage, where his practice emphasized commercial litigation, personal
injury litigation, and employment law.
John serves and has served in leadership roles for several nonprofit organizations, including the Alliance
for Charitable Reform, The Philanthropic Collaborative, Kauffman Innovation Network, Inc., Urban
Entrepreneur Partnership, Inc., UEP Gulf Coast, Inc., and Kauffman Scholars, Inc. John has served as a
member of the Advisory Board to NYU Law School’s National Center on Philanthropy and the Law and
as President and member of the School Board for the Diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph, among many
others. John has received numerous awards for public service from the Missouri Bar Association, Kansas
City Metropolitan Bar Association, the Kansas City Business Journal, Junior Achievement, Ingram’s
Magazine, and others. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
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