Speakers

Joan Lordi Amble

President, JCA Consulting, LLC
Chair-Emeritus and Co-Founder, W.O.M.E.N in America
Retired, EVP/Principal Accounting Officer, American Express

Joan served as EVP / Principal Accounting Officer for American Express from 2004- 2011, when she retired.  Prior to American Express, Joan worked for the General Electric Company, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and Ernst & Young.

Joan serves on the Boards of Zurich Insurance Group, Sirius XM Radio, and Booz Allen Hamilton.   She is an Independent Financial Advisor for Societe Generale, N.A. She completed a four year term on the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, an advisory board to the FASB, and is currently a member of the Standing Advisory Group to the PCAOB.  She sits on the North East Audit Committee Network and Insurance Group Leadership Network of Tapestry; and the NACD Council of Audit Committee Chairs.  

In 2015 Joan was awarded the Financial Executives International Hall of Fame Award, and in 2013 Joan was selected to be on the NACD Directorship 100 list Joan was a member of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commissions established to define the Board’s Role in Talent Development (2013) and the Board’s Role in Overseeing Organizational Culture (2017

Joan has received various honors from Penn State including The Penn State Smeal Accounting Alumna of the Year (1996); the Penn State Alumni Fellow Award (2005) and in 2010 the Penn State Distinguished Alumni Award.

Joan, an avid proponent of business ethics and integrity co-sponsored the Inaugural and now annual Partners in Business Ethics Symposium.  She is an active speaker on Corporate Governance.  Joan is also passionate about helping women develop professionally and often speaks at Women’s Forums.  In 2009 she co-founded and is Chair Emeritus of W.O.M.E.N. In America (www.womeninamerica.net), a Leadership Program designed to enable high potential women achieve their maximum potential.

She holds a BS in Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University (Summa Cum Laude). 

Russell Barton

Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty, Penn State Smeal College of Business

Russell Barton, professor of supply chain and information systems at the Penn State Smeal College of Business and affiliate professor of industrial engineering, is senior associate dean for research and faculty. He began serving Jan. 1, 2013. As the senior associate dean, he is responsible for the general academic and research strategies of the college as well as strategies associated with international collaborative relationships. He oversees the Ph.D. program, research funding and budgets, faculty development, and all academic departments and research centers. 

Barton joined Smeal in 2002 after 11 years in Penn State’s Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, where he taught undergraduate courses in optimization, statistics, and concurrent engineering, and graduate courses in simulation-based design and the design of experiments. He recently completed a two-year assignment as program director for Manufacturing Enterprise Systems and Service Enterprise Systems at the National Science Foundation. He is widely published, with research on the interface between applied statistics and product design and manufacturing. He is currently an associate editor for Operations Research and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Journal of Management Mathematics. Russell holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in operations research from Cornell University.

Regis Becker

Director of University Ethics and Compliance, Penn State

Regis Becker directs the Penn State University Office of Ethics and Compliance. In this role, he serves as chief ethics and compliance officer and oversees all compliance issues throughout the university. Becker reports functionally to the Board of Trustees Legal and Compliance Committee and administratively to the senior vice president for finance and business.

Becker previously served as chief compliance officer for PPG Industries, a global Fortune 250 company with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, and as director of corporate security for Praxair, Inc.

He began his career in law enforcement serving as an Allegheny County, PA, detective and as an FBI special agent. Becker graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement, earned his juris doctorate from the Duquesne University School of Law, and M.B.A from the Western Connecticut State University. He is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the US Center for SafeSport.

Mary C. Gentile

Creator/Director, Giving Voice to Values
Professor of Practice, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
Senior Advisor, Aspen Institute Business & Society Program

Mary C. Gentile, PhD, is Creator/Director of Giving Voice to Values, Professor of Practice at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Senior Advisor at the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program, and consultant on management education and leadership development. Among numerous other awards, Mary was named as one of the 2015 "100 Most Influential in Business Ethics" by Ethisphere and one of the "Top Thought Leaders in Trust: 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners" by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World, January 2015. 

Giving Voice to Values, a pioneering business curriculum for values-driven leadership, has been featured in publications such as, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, McKinsey Quarterly  and piloted in over 900 business schools and organizations globally. The award winning book is Giving Voice To Values: How To Speak Your Mind When You Know What's Right, with translations in Chinese, Spanish and forthcoming in Korean. Mary has authored numerous books and articles and partnered with Nomadic.fm in 2014 to launch six online interactive social cohort-based modules around Giving Voice  To Values.

While at Harvard Business School from 1985-1995, Mary held various positions as a faculty member, case writer and manager of case research and was one of the principal architects of HBS's Leadership, Ethics and Corporate Responsibility curriculum. Among numerous other books, cases and articles, Mary co-authored Can Ethics Be Taught? Perspectives, Challenges, and Approaches at Harvard Business School and was Content Expert for the award-winning interactive CD-ROM, Managing Across Differences (HBS Publishing).

Mary earned her Bachelor's degree from The College of William and Mary and her MA and PhD from State University of New York-Buffalo.

Lou Grabowsky

Partner, Juniper Capital Management, LLC

Since retiring from Grant Thornton in July, 2014, Lou Grabowsky together with his son, Bryan, has founded Juniper Capital Management (Juniper), a private equity enterprise organized for the purpose of making control equity investments in high growth potential but under-resourced entrepreneurial companies based in the United States. Juniper’s primary investment focus will be directed to the consumer products, industrial services and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, Grabowsky has joined several corporate boards of directors, including Griffon Corporation, Cambrex Corporation and Riveron Consulting. Griffon and Cambrex are each listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Prior to establishing Juniper, Grabowsky was most recently a partner with Grant Thornton, LLP. At Grant Thornton, he served as the chief operating officer (COO) of the firm from 2009 to 2013. In the COO role, Grabowsky was responsible for day-to-day operations for the U.S. firm. Additionally, since 2012, he led the U.S. shared services operation in India. Before that, Grabowsky served as the Central Region Managing Partner, the Dallas Office Managing Partner and member of the Partnership Board.

Prior to joining Grant Thornton, he had a lengthy career with Arthur Andersen, where he held several leadership positions over his 27-year tenure.  During Grabowsky’s career with Andersen, he left for a period of time to serve as EVP & CFO for a Fortune 1000 public company. 

Grabowsky has been very active in supporting the communities in which he and his family have lived, through board involvement in numerous, civic, charitable and academic institutions.

Peter Gray

Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Lands’ End, Inc.

Peter Gray is the executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel for Lands’ End, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for articulating and driving strategic initiatives for the company, as well as directing and overseeing all corporate legal matters, including regulatory, ethics and compliance, and corporate governance. As a member of the executive team and the company’s chief legal advisor, he reports directly to Jerome Griffith, chief executive officer of Lands’ End. 

Gray brings extensive industry expertise and executive leadership to this critical role in the company. His broad legal experience includes corporate law, securities law, corporate governance and reporting, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, employment and litigation.

Before joining Lands’ End, he served as the executive vice president and general counsel at Tumi Holdings, Inc. where he advised the board and senior management on all legal aspects of business issues and fiduciary matters, guided all governance and compliance activities, and counseled the company through its acquisition by Samsonite International S.A. In addition, he was a member of Tumi’s executive committee, which oversaw the strategic direction of the company. Previously, he was executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel at CMGI, Inc./ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc., where his responsibilities included overseeing legal matters, human resources, investor relations, corporate procurement and insurance.  Gray began his legal career at Hale and Dorr LLP, now Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he was a junior partner in the corporate department and represented public and private companies on various corporate matters, including capital raising, securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. 

Gray received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School and received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Tufts University.

Jerome Griffith

Chief Executive Officer, President and Member of the Board of Directors of Lands' End, Inc.

Jerome Griffith is the chief executive officer, president and a member of the board of directors of Lands’ End, Inc.

In this role, Jerome Griffith is committed to leveraging Lands’ End’s rich heritage to drive growth and profit opportunities for all aspects of the global brand while remaining true to the brand’s core values and customer base. 

Griffith brings nearly 40 years of retail and apparel experience to Lands’ End, demonstrating expertise and an impressive track record in the areas of thought leadership, retail, and operational expertise. He embodies a value system aligned with Lands’ End’s core principles of quality, value and customer service and is committed to building sustainable long-term growth.

Prior to joining Lands' End, he most recently served as chief executive officer, president and director of Tumi Holdings, Inc., a company which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, from April 2009 until its sale in August 2016 to Samsonite International S.A., where he now serves as a non-executive director. Recently he served as chairman of the supervisory board of Tom Tailor Holding AG and is currently a director of Vince Holding Corp.  A dedicated supporter of the education of future fashion and design executives, Griffith has acted on the board of Parsons School of Design since September 2013.

From 2002 to February 2009, he was employed at Esprit Holdings Limited, a global fashion brand, where he was promoted to chief operating officer and board member in 2004, and later promoted to president of Esprit North and South America. Prior to his work with Esprit, Griffith worked as executive vice president at apparel and retail company Tommy Hilfiger, president of retail at catalog-based apparel and retail company J. Peterman Company, and held various positions of increasing responsibility at Gap, Inc. from 1989-1998.

Griffith received his Bachelors of Science in Marketing from Pennsylvania State University, in State College, Pa., in 1979.

Patricia J. Harned

Chief Executive Officer, Ethics & Compliance Initiative 

Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Patricia J. Harned is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI). Dr. Harned oversees ECI’s research agenda and its networking and conference events. She also directs outreach efforts to policymakers and federal enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C., and speaks and writes frequently as an expert on ethics in the workplace, corporate governance and global integrity. Dr. Harned advises CEOs and directors on effective ways to build an ethical culture and promote integrity in organizational activities.

Dr. Harned has served as a consultant to many leading organizations, including Penn State University, BP and the New York Stock Exchange. She has testified before Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Dr. Harned has been featured in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today and CNN, and has appeared on the “Diane Rehm Show.” She was selected by Ethisphere Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics in 2014, and was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior in both 2010 and 2011 by the non-profit organization Trust Across America.

Dr. Harned holds a Bachelor of Science in education degree from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, a Master of Education degree from Indiana University and a Doctorate in the Philosophy of education from the University of Pittsburgh.

E. John Heiser

President and Chief Operating Officer, Magnetrol International, Inc. 

John Heiser is President & Chief Operating Officer of Magnetrol International, Incorporated. Magnetrol is a global leader in the development and manufacture of level and flow process control instrumentation. John began his career as an attorney in private practice before transitioning into business where he has held numerous leadership positions in legal, government affairs, sales, and marketing.

John earned his BA degree in political science/sociology from the University of Iowa, a J.D. from Tulane University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a PhD from Benedictine University’s Center for Values-Driven Leadership. His primary areas of focus include ethical leadership and its impact on driving corporate social responsibility and organizational change, leadership ethics, and leadership development.

Nicholas P. Jones

Executive Vice President and Provost, Penn State

Dr. Nicholas P. Jones began serving The Pennsylvania State University as Executive Vice President and Provost in July 2013. As Provost, he is the University’s chief academic officer, responsible for the administration of all of Penn State’s research and educational programs, and for the academic welfare of all faculty and students. In his role as Executive Vice President, he serves as the chief executive officer in the President’s absence, and he is centrally involved in most University operations.

Dr. Jones chairs the meetings of Penn State’s Council of Academic Deans and the Academic Leadership Council. He serves on the President’s Council and is an ex officio member of the University Faculty Senate and Senate Council. He also chairs the University Strategic Planning Council, which developed the University-wide strategic plan for the calendar years 2016 through 2020.

Dr. Jones holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He earned an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He came to Penn State from Johns Hopkins University, where he served as the Benjamin T. Rome Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering and previously as Professor and Chairman of Civil Engineering. He also served for two years as Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Jones’ approach to leadership emphasizes collaboration, innovation, and the development of strategic partnerships and cross-disciplinary initiatives. He has received several awards for teaching and research, and he maintains professional association with the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Idie Kesner

Dean of the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Idalene (Idie) Kesner is the Dean and the Frank P. Popoff Chair of Strategic Management at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. From 2009-2012, she served as the Associate Dean of Faculty and Research. Prior to this, from 2003-2009 she served as the Chairperson for the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, from 2003-2006 she served as the Chairperson of the MBA Program, and from 1996-2003 she was co-director of the school’s Consulting Academy. Prior to joining IU, she was a professor at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.

Idie received her MBA and Ph.D. from Indiana University (IU), where as an associate instructor she won an undergraduate teaching award. From 1983-1995, she taught extensively in UNC’s undergraduate, MBA, and Ph.D. programs. In 1989 she won the school’s MBA teaching award, and in 1990 and 1993 she won Executive Education teaching awards from UNC. Since joining IU, Idie won a teaching award in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 for her work in the school’s MBA program.  She also won Teaching Excellence Recognition Awards (TERAs) in 1997, 1998, and 1999, and she won Trustee Teaching Awards in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008.  While at UNC and IU, Idie has been consistently selected by Business Week as a top MBA instructor.  In 1997 she won the Max Barney Teaching Award for her work in executive education.  She teaches a variety of management and strategy courses across a number of areas including strategic management, crisis management, change management and management consulting.

Idie conducts research in the areas of corporate board of directors, chief executive succession, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.  She has published articles in numerous journals including Academy of Management, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Organization Science, and Harvard Business Review. 

She has taught in more than 100 executive programs and served as a consultant for many different national and international firms working on strategic and board related issues. Currently, she is on the board of Sun Life Financial, a financial services company headquartered inCanada. She serves on the Risk Review and Governance and Conduct Review Committees. Sun Life Financial is one of the largest financial services companies inNorth America. The company also has operations in the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and China.

Idie is the recipient of numerous service awards including one from the governor of North Carolina for the establishment of a program for high school students interested in studying business. In 1990 she also received the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise Faculty Award and in 1991 she received the Hugh McColl Faculty Development Award. Idie has served in numerous service roles for the Business Policy & Strategy Division of the Academy of Management and the Strategic Management Society.

Richard K. Lyons

Bank of America Dean and Professor of Business Kruttschnitt Family Chair in Financial Institutions, Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley

Rich Lyons is the dean of the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and holds the Bank of America Dean’s Chair. Prior to becoming dean in July 2008, he served as the chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs in New York, a position he held since 2006. As chief learning officer, Rich was responsible for leadership development among the firm’s managing directors.

Prior to Goldman Sachs, Rich served as acting dean of the Haas School from 2004 to 2005 and as executive associate dean and Sylvan Coleman Professor of Finance from 2005 to 2006. He received his BS with highest honors from UC Berkeley (finance) and his Ph.D. from MIT (economics). Before coming to Haas, Professor Lyons spent six years on the faculty at Columbia Business School. His teaching expertise is in international finance.

Linda K. Treviño

Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics in the Department of Management and Organization, Penn State Smeal College of Business

Linda K. Treviño, Ph.D., is distinguished professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics in the Department of Management and Organization at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. Treviño holds a Ph.D. in managemen,t which has contributed to her unique focus on ethics as a management issue. She has published 90 articles, many in the field’s top research journals. She has also co-authored three books, an academic book on organizational ethics, another on academic integrity, and a textbook on business ethics that is in its sixth edition.

In 2007, she was elected a member of the Academy of Management Fellows, a group that recognizes and honors members of the Academy of Management who have made significant contributions to the science and practice of management. 

Treviño has taught students at all levels and has spoken to many academic and practitioner audiences. Her views on business ethics have been quoted in the press including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Business Week, and other publications and she has appeared on CNBC. Her research has focused on the impact of individual differences and ethical culture on employee behavior, ethical leadership, speaking up about ethical issues, and the role of values in organizations among other topics. She maintains an active research program with current research that includes a focus on how scandal affects leaders and organizations, moral advocacy in ethical decision-making groups and emotions in ethical decision making. Ethisphere named her one of the 100 most influential people in business ethics in 2015.

Lara Warner

Chief Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Officer, Credit Suisse Group

Lara J. Warner is the Chief Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Officer (CCRO) and a member of the Executive Boards of Credit Suisse Group and Credit Suisse, based in Zurich. As CCRO, Ms. Warner is responsible for all compliance and regulatory matters for Credit Suisse globally and across all businesses and functions.

From 2010 to 2015, Ms. Warner was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Investment Banking (IB) division and a member of the IB Operating Committee. Since 2013 through to her appointment as CCRO, she was also the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the IB division. Prior to her CFO and COO roles, she was the Global Head of Fixed Income and Economic Research, and also served as Head of US Equity Research. Ms. Warner joined Credit Suisse in 2002 as a senior equity research analyst covering the cable television, wireline and wireless telecommunications services and satellite industries. 

Prior to joining the Credit Suisse, Ms. Warner was a senior research analyst at Lehman Brothers, where she covered the cable television industry. Before joining Lehman Brothers in March 2001, Ms. Warner spent 10 years at AT&T, where she held a number of leadership roles including Director of Investor Relations and Chief Financial Officer for AT&T's Competitive Local Exchange business unit efforts in the U.S.

Ms. Warner is Chair of the Women's Leadership Board of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, a Board Member of the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, Member of the Board of Visitors of Smeal College, Pennsylvania State University as well as Member of the Board of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.

Ms. Warner holds a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University.

Charles H. Whiteman

John and Becky Surma Dean, Smeal College of Business, Penn State

The John and Becky Surma Dean of the Penn State Smeal College of Business oversees all aspects of one of the largest business schools in the nation. Smeal offers highly ranked programs to more than 5,000 students at all levels; supports the research activities of faculty members in six academic departments; is home to a network of leading research centers in business; and features an alumni network of more than 75,000 Smeal graduates around the world.

Whiteman, who has more than 36 years of experience in higher education and business, assumed the leadership position at Smeal in July 2012. Prior to joining Penn State, he was senior associate dean for the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.

During a career that began as an instructor at Iowa in 1980, Whiteman advanced through the faculty ranks to become a chaired professor and served in a variety of administrative roles including chair of the Department of Economics, director of the Institute for Economic Research, and interim dean.

Whiteman holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Kansas. His academic expertise is in macroeconomics, econometrics, and economic forecasting. He has conducted research that has been supported by a number of grants from the National Science Foundation, published dozens of academic papers, written two books, and served as associate editor of several economics journals. He has also advised the state of Iowa’s Department of Management on economic issues and served as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Minneapolis.

Whiteman’s initiatives for the Smeal College include a certificate program to enable more non-business majors to learn business fundamentals, increasing quality online offerings, increasing participation by students in study abroad programs, and enhancing the college’s culture of honor and integrity.