Daniel G. Bellow

Chair, Greater Houston Partnership, President, Houston Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc.

Dan Bellow is President of Jones Lang LaSalle-Houston and is responsible for the growth and market penetration of Jones Lang LaSalle in the greater Houston area and Louisiana.

Dan also advises some of Houston's largest companies regarding workplace strategies, corporate relocations, build-to-suit locations and disposition of surplus properties. Dan has been a leader in Houston's commercial real estate business for the past 35 years and holds professional designation in the Counselors of Real Estate, Certified Commercial Investment Members and Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. He is also a member of the Houston Office Leasing Brokers Association and CoreNet. He supports numerous charitable organizations and serves on the Board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast & Louisiana. Dan is an Eagle Scout and received his Bachelor's of Science degree from the University of Houston.

Jones Lang LaSalle is a fully integrated financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate services and investment management with offices in 700 cities serving the local, regional and global real estate needs of those clients.

Paul P. Bollinger Jr.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy & Partnerships

Paul P. Bollinger Jr. was sworn-in as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Partnerships by the Honorable Keith Eastin, the Assistant Secretary for Installations and Environment. In this position, he will have responsibility and oversight of Army energy and installation partnership initiatives. These include the Army Enterprise Energy Strategy, Residential Communities Initiatives, Privatized Army Lodging, Utility Privatization, and Historical Properties. The title and responsibilities for this office were revised on 19 June 2008 from Privatization & Partnerships to include energy.

He previously served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics, responsible for the management of the alternative fuels program and the formation of the Alternative Fuels Certification Office. In 2007, he was awarded the Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management.

His efforts in alternative energy include the creation of the InterAgency Working Group on Alternative Fuels which represents all federal departments and agencies. Mr. Bollinger also serves as the Department of Defense official representative on the Strategic Unconventional Fuels Task Force, created by the 2005 Energy Policy Act. In addition, he was the DOD representative on the Western Governors' Association Coal to Liquids Task Force and the EPA's Advanced Coal Technology Working Group. Mr. Bollinger ran the successful USAF Energy Forums I and II held in 2007 and 2008.

A native of KY, he is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of General Studies Degree in aviation and business. He earned a graduate certificate in association management from George Washington University. He is a licensed U.S. Coast Guard Captain with a Masters upgrade to 50gt. sail/power. He earned his private pilot's license at 17 years of age. He comes from a family of residential and commercial developers.

In 1979, he came to Washington, DC to serve as the Assistant Director of the American Association of Airport Executives. He started Bollinger & Associates in 1988 and was the first Executive Director of the Airport Consultants Council. Subsequently, he became the Senior Vice President of the Airports Council International – North America; and, Vice President of DMJM Aviation in Philadelphia, PA. He returned to Washington, DC as the Vice President of Aviation for HNTB Corporation. He is past President of the Air Traffic Control Association.

Mr. Bollinger is the founder of the Greater Washington Aviation Open, the largest aviation charity event in Washington, DC. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Corporate Angel Network, the tournament beneficiary, which arranges for cancer patients to fly on business aircraft to treatment facilities across the country.

Jose Bravo

Chief Scientist, Shell Oil Company

Jose Bravo is a world-renowned expert in separation technology, and his work was recognised last year at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' (AIChE) annual meeting.

Jose gained a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and Graduate degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He moved through various technical and commercial roles, building up extensive industrial and academic networks as an independent consultant before joining Shell Oil in 1995.

Jose is a Member of Executive Committee of Fractionation Research, Inc in the US and has published more than 50 technical papers, two patents and two books in the Distillation area.

Jose was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and is Shell's Chief Scientist in the area of Physical Separations. His role includes leadership of the global Physical Separations discipline in Shell (group-wide) as well as direct consultancy in separation matters to initiatives such as Novel Crude Upgrading, Unconventional Resources, Bio Fuels, CO2, and other technology platforms. Another dimension of his role includes coordination of Shell's Chief Scientist Team.

Martha Z. Carnes

US Energy Assurance Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Martha has over twenty-five years of experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers serving large, multi-national clients. Martha is the leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Energy and Mining Assurance practice in the United States and is one of the firm's global subject matter experts for the natural gas industry. As the US Energy and Mining Assurance leader, she is responsible for, among other things, ensuring the services we deliver to our energy clients are of the highest quality through the appropriate allocation of resources to our clients, the technical and industry specific training and development of our people, and the sharing of knowledge among our energy teams. Martha is an Assurance Partner serving clients in the energy industry, including natural gas transmission and distribution, natural gas and power trading and marketing, oil and gas exploration and production, chemicals and independent power production.

Martha regularly consults with her clients on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, both domestic and international. She has lead due diligence teams, completed carve-out audits, and coordinated the filing of all of the required Securities and Exchange Commission reports. In addition, Martha has consulted with energy marketing companies on their trading strategies and evaluated controls to support those strategies. Martha has also served as one of the Firm's Risk Management Partners, responsible for evaluating our client relationships, as well as providing consultation on higher risk accounting, auditing and reporting issues.

Martha is a contributing author to several energy industry textbooks and PricewaterhouseCoopers' monograph addressing the discontinuance of regulatory accounting. She is an instructor and course writer for many of the Firm's energy and technical training courses and frequently speaks at Firm and industry conferences on current energy industry issues. Martha has made presentations to members of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Financial Executives International, Edison Electric Institute, and the American Gas Association.

Martha is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin where she earned a BBA degree in accounting. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Texas and Oklahoma Societies of Certified Public Accountants, and The University of Texas Accounting Advisory Council. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of The Houston Grand Opera, serving on the Audit Committee, and Central Houston Inc. She has previously served on the boards of The Greater Houston Partnership, American Heart Association, Boy & Girls Clubs, and The Houston Symphony.

Victor G. Carrillo

Chairman, Railroad Commission of Texas

A native of Abilene, Texas, Chairman Carrillo has worked as a petroleum geophysicist, college professor, attorney and judge. He first entered elected office in 2000, when elected to the Abilene City Council. He was later elected County Judge of his home county – the post he held when Governor Rick Perry appointed him to the Texas Railroad Commission in February 2003. In 2004, he won his first statewide election with almost four million votes and secured a six-year term of office. He plans to seek re-election in 2010. Chairman Carrillo helps to lead the state agency that oversees the Texas energy sector -- the oil and gas, pipeline and surface mining industries. Chairman Carrillo has bachelors and masters degrees in Geology. He earned his law degree from the University of Houston. He is a Texas licensed attorney and geoscientist. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Hardin-Simmons University – his alma mater.

Carrillo was Chairman of the Texas Energy Planning Council that created a Texas Energy Plan to help ensure that Texas remains the premier energy producing state in the nation. He is Chairman of the Outer Continental Shelf advisory board to the Secretary of the Interior – advising on all aspects of oil and gas leasing of the nation's offshore areas. He is also a member of America's Energy Coast Honorary Leadership Council – a group educating the public on the national importance of the energy producing states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He formerly served as Vice Chairman of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission. He was recently named to the Committee on Gas of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He is on the Board of Advisors of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas & Energy Law at the University of Texas School of Law. Victor and his wife, Joy, have been married 24 years and have three daughters. The family attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin.

Commissioner Carrillo was named by Hispanic Business Magazine to its list of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. He is the son of a Mexican immigrant, the first in his family to have gone to college, and the highest-ranking elected Hispanic official in Texas.

Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr.

President & CEO, Marathon Oil Corporation

Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr. is President and CEO of Marathon Oil Corporation, an international energy corporation engaged in exploration and production; oil sands mining; integrated gas; and refining, marketing and transportation operations. He joined Marathon in March 2000. Mr. Cazalot also serves on the Board of Directors of Baker Hughes, the US Saudi Arabian Business Council, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Greater Houston Partnership.

Walter D. Cruickshank

Deputy Director, Minerals Management Service (MMS)

Walter D. Cruickshank has served as the Deputy Director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) since 2002. He assists the MMS Director in the administration of programs that ensure the effective management of energy and mineral resources located on the nation's outer continental shelf, including the environmentally safe exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and renewable energy, and the collection and distribution of revenues for minerals developed on federal and American Indian lands.

Dr. Cruickshank previously served as Associate Director for Policy and Management Improvement for MMS and has worked in the Department of the Interior for over 20 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Geological Sciences from Cornell University and a Doctorate in Mineral Economics from The Pennsylvania State University.

Marcela Donadio

Americas Oil & Gas Sector Leader
Ernst & Young LLP

Marcela leads the Americas Oil & Gas Sector and is the Southwest Sub-Area Energy industry leader. In that capacity, Marcela manages a practice made up of more than 60 partners and 550 professionals.

Marcela has over 32 years of audit and public accounting experience with a strong focus on domestic and international operations in all segments of the energy industry. In her many years in public accounting, Marcela has gained in-depth experience relevant to the many issues which face global energy companies. Marcela has served energy companies in an advisory and accounting capacity, and as a member of the firm's Global Oil & Gas Advisory Panel, which helps direct Ernst & Young's strategy with regard to energy companies.

Marcela earned her BS from Louisiana State University. She has also been involved in both state and national affairs and was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy in 2000. In 1984, Marcela was named Outstanding Young Houstonian, joining such illustrious predecessor nominees as Dan Rather and George H.W. Bush.

Dr. Michelle Michot Foss

Chief Energy Economist and Head, Center for Energy Economics, University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Michot Foss directs and conducts research, specializing in the energy value chains and associated investment frameworks; advises US and international energy companies; publishes and speaks widely on energy issues; and provides public commentary and testimony to governments. Areas of emphasis include upstream/midstream natural gas/LNG, upstream oil, CCS and climate economics, electric power generation fuels, national oil companies, scenarios and outlooks. She directs two major research programs: CEE's US Agency for International Development cooperative agreement, Smart Development in Energy Sector Governance (currently in West Africa) and CEE's joint effort with World Bank on national oil companies. She also founded and directs CEE's international capacity building program, New Era in Oil, Gas & Power Value Creation.

In addition to Texas and the US, the Dr. Michot Foss and CEE team members have experience in Canada and Mexico; South America; Russia and the Caspian; Western Europe and Turkey; Africa; and East Asia. In 2006, Dr. Michot Foss was chosen as Senior Fellow by the US Association for Energy Economics for her contribution to the profession and association. She was selected as one of the Key Women in Energy-Americas (2003). She was the 2003 president of the International Association for Energy Economics and 2001 president of the USAEE. Among others, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), AIPN Board of Directors and executive board of the new AIPN/Oxford Press Journal of World Energy Law & Business; the Scientific Council, 50th Anniversary of ENI Commemorative Encyclopedia of Hydrocarbons; advisory boards of the Consumer Energy Alliance, the Institute for Energy in the 21st Century (US Chamber of Commerce) and the Women's Global Leadership Conference in Energy & Technology; editorial board of the International Journal of Regulation and Governance. She holds degrees from University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Colorado School of Mines, and University of Houston. CEE-UT has been named a finalist in the World Oil Awards competition for best outreach program in both 2006 and 2007.

John Hofmeister

President, Citizens for Affordable Energy & Chair, Energy Collaborative Cluster Council, Greater Houston Partnership

John Hofmeister, upon retirement from Shell Oil Company in July, 2008, founded and heads the not-for-profit (501(c)(3) pending), nation-wide membership association, Citizens for Affordable Energy. This Washington, D.C. registered, public policy education firm will exist to promote sound U.S. energy security solutions for the nation, including a range of affordable energy supplies, efficiency improvements, essential infrastructure, sustainable environmental policies and public education on energy issues.

Hofmeister was named President of Houston-based Shell Oil Company in March 2005, heading the U.S. Country Leadership Team, which included the leaders of all Shell businesses operating in the United States. He became President after serving as Group Human Resource Director of the Shell Group, based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

As Shell President, Hofmeister launched an extensive outreach program, unprecedented in the energy industry, to discuss critical global energy challenges. The program included an 18 month, 50-city tour across the country during which Hofmeister led 250 other Shell leaders to meet with more than 15,000 business, community and civic leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss what must be done to ensure affordable, available energy for the future.

A business leader who has participated in the inner workings of multiple industries for over 35 years, Hofmeister also has held key leadership positions in General Electric, Nortel and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell International).

Hofmeister serves as the Chairman of the National Urban League and is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. He also serves on the boards of the Foreign Policy Association, Strategic Partners, LLC, and the United States Energy Association. Hofmeister is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. He also is a past Chairman and serves as a Director of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Hofmeister earned Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Political Science from Kansas State University.

Kevin Howell

President, NRG Texas

Kevin Howell became president, NRG Texas in August 2008. In this position, he is responsible for managing the asset portfolio for the Texas region, made up of more than 1,100 professional employees in Texas, operating a diverse generation portfolio of almost 11,000 megawatts of power—enough electricity for almost 9 million Texas homes. Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations. Before joining NRG, he served as President of Dominion Energy Clearinghouse since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, Kevin held various positions within Duke Energy companies including Senior Vice President of Duke Energy Trading and Marketing, Senior Vice President of Duke Energy International, and most recently, Executive Vice President of Duke Energy Merchants where he managed a global trading group dealing in refined products, LNG and coal. Prior to his five years at Duke, Kevin Howell worked in a variety of trading, marketing and operations functions at MG Natural Gas Corp., Associated Natural Gas and Panhandle Eastern Pipeline L.P.

Amy Myers Jaffe

Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies; Associate Director, Rice Energy Program, Rice University

Amy Myers Jaffe, a Princeton University graduate in Arabic studies, is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the Baker Institute. Jaffe's research focuses on oil geopolitics, strategic energy policy including energy science policy, and energy economics. Jaffe is widely published and served as co-editor of “Energy in the Caspian Region: Present and Future” (Palgrave, 2002) and “Natural Gas and Geopolitics: From 1970 to 2040” (Cambridge University Press, 2006). Jaffe served as a member of the reconstruction and economy working group of the Baker/Hamilton Iraq Study Group, as project director for the Baker Institute/Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Strategic Energy Policy, and as a principal adviser to USAID's project on Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry. She is currently serving as a strategic advisor to the American Automobile Association (AAA) of the United States.

Jaffe was among the 2004 Key Women in Energy-Americas honorees in the Pathfinders/Trailblazers category. In 2005 she was an honoree for Esquire's annual 100 Best and Brightest in the contribution to society category, and Elle magazine's 2006 Women for the Environment. She has been named to Who's Who in America, 2008, and was a contributor to Foreign Policy's “21 Solutions to Save the World” (May/June 2007). She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining the Baker Institute, Jaffe was the senior editor and Middle East analyst for Petroleum Intelligence Weekly.

Dr. Renu Khator

Chancellor, University of Houston System; President, University of Houston

Renu Khator, Ph.D. is a devoted educator, seasoned administrator and respected scholar. She was recently appointed Chancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston. Prior to assuming the helm, she served as Provost of the University of South Florida from 2003 to 2007, and was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for three years prior. Dr. Khator has an extensive record of board service and community involvement, and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Eugene H. Levy

Howard R. Hughes Provost, Rice University

Professor Eugene Levy was appointed to the Howard R. Hughes Chair as Provost and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University in 2000. As Provost, Professor Levy is the chief academic officer of the university and has the responsibility for educational and research programs. The university's deans report to the Provost, as do a number of other academic and support units, including undergraduate and graduate studies.

Education and Previous Experience:
Professor Levy received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago (1971) and an A.B. in Physics from Rutgers University (1966). After working as a Fellow for the Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland and at the Bartol Research Institute, he joined the University of Arizona in 1975. Professor Levy held appointments at the Professor of Planetary Sciences and Professor of Physics at the University of Arizona. From 1983 to 1994, he served as the Head of the Planetary Sciences Department and Director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Subsequently, from 1993 to 2000, he served as Dean of the College of Science. While at the University of Arizona, Professor Levy also was a member of the faculties of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Astrophysics programs. In 1989, he established the NASA/Arizona Space Grant College Consortium and served as its director for eleven years.

Awards:
In 1983, Professor Levy was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and from 1985 to 1991, he held an appointment as Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. In Germany in 1989, Professor Levy was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Senior Scientist Award. At the University of Arizona, Professor Levy received a Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Award in 1996, and in 1999, he was the inaugural recipient of the Hispanic Alumni Association Outstanding Administrator Award. Professor Levy was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi at Rutgers. He held a NASA Pre-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Related Professional Activities:
Professor Levy has served on numerous scientific programs, policy and consulting advisory positions at the national and international levels. Currently, Professor Levy is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) (2004- ). He is also a board member (2001- ) , and Chair (2007-) of the Board of Trustees of Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) a non-government organization that operates U.S. national and internationally collaborative radio telescope observatories.

During the past ten years, Professor Levy served as member and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) (1991-95); he was Chair of the Planet Formation Group of NASA Origins of the Solar Systems Review Panel (1993-95); he was a member of the International Science (Soros) Foundation Astronomy Review Panel (1993-94); he was Chair of the NASA Origins of the Solar Systems Program Management Working Group (1994-97). He served on the American Astronomical Society Committee on Public Education Policy (1994-96), chaired the NASA Discovery-4 Mission Selection Panel (1995), and served as a Panelist with the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Issues Forum on Science and Technology (1996); he was a member of the NASA/Keck Observatory Telescope Allocation Committee (1990-2000), the NASA Discover Missions Review Panel (1998), the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee, “Benefits Panel” under the National Academy of Sciences (1999). He also served as a member and Chair of the NASA Planetary Protection Advisory Committee (2002-2006) and was a recent member of the NASA Nuclear Systems Initiative Science Definition Team (2002-03).

Research Interests:
Professor Levy's research interests are focused in the areas of theoretical cosmic physics and are aimed at elucidating mechanisms and processes that underlie physical phenomena in planetary and astrophysical systems. His work has encompassed areas of planetary geophysics, magnetohydrodynamics, solar and space physics, and electrodynamics. He has investigated the generation and behavior of magnetic fields in natural bodies, including the Earth, Sun, and the planets; origin of the geomagnetic reversal; theory of cosmic rays; theory of physical processes associated with the formation of the solar system, stars, and other planetary systems. He has also worked on the development of observational techniques for the discovery and study of other planetary systems.

Melody B. Meyer

President, Chevron Energy Technology Company Houston

Headquartered in Houston, Texas Melody Meyer is president of Chevron Energy Technology Company (ETC), where she is responsible for overseeing technology resources and managing the delivery of leading-edge technology solutions and a full spectrum of services to Chevron's operating companies.

Ms. Meyer graduated from Trinity University in 1979 with a B.S. in Engineering Science-Mechanical and joined Gulf Oil Corporation in Houston, Texas, which merged with Chevron Corporation in 1985.

For 19 years, she worked on international projects and in operational assignments with Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc., and during the next 10 years Ms. Meyer worked at Chevron's North America Exploration and Production Company. Internationally, she was involved in major projects in West Africa and in the start-up of operations in Tengiz, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea and China. Ms. Meyer was manager of Operations Engineering in Kazakhstan and production manager in Angola. Ms. Meyer served as vice president of Chevron's Gulf of Mexico business unit in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was responsible for the company's offshore shelf and deepwater production operations as well as shelf exploration activities prior to her move to ETC in 2008.

Ms. Meyer is the executive sponsor of the Chevron Women's Network as well as the executive sponsor for the University Partnership Program with the University of Texas at Austin. Externally, she is on the Board of Trustees of National Offshore Industry Association (NOIA), Board of Trustees of Trinity University, Engineering Advisory Board of the University of Texas at Austin, and Board Member of the New Orleans United Way.

She has three children and resides in the Houston area.

Brett A. Perlman

President, Vector Advisors

Brett A. Perlman is currently President of Vector Advisors, a management consulting firm that provides services to telecommunications and energy clients. Prior to his current role, he served as Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas from 1999 to 2003.

Perlman was appointed to the Texas PUC in 1999 by then-Governor George W. Bush and served until his term ended in September 2003. In this role, he was responsible for leading the successful restructuring of Texas' $17 billion electric utility industry and $4 billion telecommunications industry as these markets opened to competition.

As a result of Perlman's leadership, Texas has been widely recognized as having the best electric restructuring program in the country and as one of the most successful competitive telecommunications markets. In addition, Perlman was the only publicly appointed official to serve throughout the entire Texas electric restructuring process and therefore has unparalleled insights into the Texas electric market.

Perlman's current activities as President of Vector Advisors include providing management consulting services to telecommunications and energy clients, such as Texas Genco, Entergy, MCI, Consolidated Edison Solutions, IHS Energy, Centrica and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. He also founded and served on the Board of Directors of Vector ESP, a $40 million venture-capital-backed IT services company, until its sale to MTM Technologies last year.

Prior to his appointment to the Texas PUC, Perlman was a management consultant with the Texas office of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm known for its leadership role in business consulting. At McKinsey, Perlman specialized in strategic planning for Fortune 500 technology companies in identifying new market opportunities and developing corporate strategies. Perlman has also practiced law with the Washington D.C. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and with the Houston office of Jenkens & Gilchrist.

Perlman has been actively involved in his community at both the state and local levels. He wrote a nationally recognized report for the state's Science and Technology Council and provided strategic planning for the state's Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, which was responsible for Texas' $1.5 billion fund for wiring schools for the Internet. Perlman also helped start the Houston Technology Center, where he serves on the Advisory Board, and is a Board member of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Houston.

A native of Houston, Perlman graduated Phi Beta Kappa in economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He received a law degree from the University of Texas Law School where he was associate editor of the Texas Law Review. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he focused on business and policy issues involving information technology, telecommunications industry and the Internet.

He lives in Houston with his wife Cindy and three children, Brian and twins Hallie and Drew.

Rebecca Ranich

Director, Energy & Resources, Deloitte Consulting LLP

A Director in our Energy & Resources practice, Rebecca is a senior international industry executive and commercial strategist with more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. She has focused on energy infrastructure investments, and more recently on alternative and renewable energy deployment, climate change issues, and project finance.

Rebecca advises on alternative and renewable energy strategies and issues, with a special focus on the commercial integration of new energy sources with existing infrastructure, and assessing the pending U.S. policy and regulatory initiatives at the state and federal levels, Prior to joining Deloitte, Ms. Ranich was involved in a number of major oil and gas pipeline projects in the Russian Federation including; Sakhalin II, Polar Lights, Baltic Oil Pipeline System (BOPS), Northern Gateway, and several projects with Gazprom, while an executive with a large US engineering firm.

An Advisor to the President of the US Association of Energy Economists on Renewable Energy topics, a member of the Board of Directors of the Gas Technology Institute and the University of Pittsburgh Centre for International Studies, Rebecca is a frequent speaker on alternative energy and infrastructure investments. She began her career with the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, DC, as a Soviet Industrial Economics Analyst, having received her B.A. in Russian and East European Studies from Northwestern University and her M.B.A. in Management from the University of Detroit.

Christopher E. Ross

Vice President, CRA International Inc.

Christopher E. Ross, Vice President of CRA International Inc. leads the company's North American Oil & Gas Practice and specializes in strategy and organization assignments in the worldwide petroleum industry, where he has 40 years of experience. Based successively in Europe, Africa, and the United States, he has extensive global experience helping international, national and independent oil company clients develop a shared sense of strategic direction, and execute the strategies. He has also led major transformation assignments resulting in massive reductions in costs. He is co-author of the book on leadership of energy companies: Terra Incognita – A Navigation Aid for Energy Leaders. Formerly, Mr. Ross was a Vice President of Arthur D. Little, and prior to that was with British Petroleum Company. He received a BS in Chemistry with Honors from King's College, London University and completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School.

Dr. Daniel Sperling

Founding Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis; Board Member, California Air Resources Board

Dr. Sperling is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and the founding Director of ITS-Davis. Dr. Sperling has led ITS-Davis to international prominence by building strong partnerships with industry, government, and the environmental community, integrating interdisciplinary research and education programs, and connecting research with public outreach and education. Dr. Sperling also serves as Co-director of the STEPS program at ITS-Davis.

Appointed to the Air Resources Board in 2007 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dr. Sperling is recognized as a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of transportation, and transportation policy. He is chair of the Davos World Economic Forum's Council on "Future of Mobility" and recent chair of the U.S. Transportation Research Board's standing committees on Sustainable Transportation and Alternative Fuels. He was honored as a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies, is an author or editor of 200 technical articles and 11 books, including Two Billion Cars (Oxford University Press, 2009), and has testified many times to the U.S. Congress on alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technology.

Dr. Sperling earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (with minors in Economics and Energy & Resources) and his B.S. in Environmental Engineering and Urban Planning from Cornell University.

William Thurmond

Chairman of Research, American Biofuels Council

William Thurmond is the President and founder of Emerging Markets Online, a global energy and biofuels intelligence firm started eleven years ago in 1997. Mr. Thurmond is also the author of Biodiesel 2020: A Global Market Survey. Mr. Thurmond is also a columnist for Biofuels International journal, Renewable Energy Access, Biofuels Digest, and speaks regularly at biofuels and renewable energy conferences.

Mr. Thurmond is a member of The International Association for Energy Economics, and the Association of Professional Futurists, and serves the American Biofuels Council as Chairman of Development, the National Algae Association as Chairman of Research and Development, and serves the University of Houston as a lecturer and adjunct faculty and where he teaches Technology Forecasting for Entrepreneurs. Mr. Thurmond has participated in graduate courses towards a PhD, Alternative Futures, at The University of Hawaii at Manoa; earned an M.S., Studies of The Future, from The University of Houston; and a B.A, International Relations and Economics from Rollins College.

Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran

Environment and Energy Correspondent, The Economist

He joined the staff as the London-based Latin America correspondent in 1992. He opened its first office in that region in Mexico City, and served as bureau chief until 1997. From 1998 to 2006, he covered the politics, economics, business and technology of the interrelated fields of energy and the environment. His current portfolio now encompasses global health, biotechnology, and innovation.

Vijay is an advisor to the World Economic Forum/Davos on clean energy innovation, and served as a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a faculty member of NYU's Stern Business School, and has delivered lectures at Yale, Oxford, Stanford and other leading universities. He is a regular commentator on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and at other media outlets. He has been a keynote speaker and panel chairman at events organized by the US National Governors' Association, the Clinton Global Initiative, Google, BP, the World Wildlife Fund, and many other groups.

Vijay's latest book, "ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future", co-authored with Economist colleague Iain Carson, has been named a Book of the Year by the Financial Times. He is also the author of “Power to the People”. Harvard professor and Nobel-winner John Holdren, reviewing the book in Scientific American, called it “by far the most helpful, entertaining, up-to-date and accessible treatment of the energy-economy-environment problematique available.” His writings have received various prizes in America and abroad, including honors from Britain's Business Journalist of the Year Awards and the International Association of Energy Economists. Vijay, named a Truman Scholar during his university studies by the US Congress, earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he graduated as a National Merit Scholar and co-valedictorian of his class at Cheshire High School.

He was born in Madras, India, and grew up in Cheshire, Connecticut. He now lives in New York City.

The Honorable Bill White, Mayor, City of Houston

Mayor White's leadership has brought Houston together, as shown by his overwhelming re-election to a third term. He uses business practices every day at City Hall to improve service and get things done.

He has aggressively attacked our community's most difficult challenges, such as investment in neighborhood drainage, reform of municipal pensions, holding the line on property taxes with rate cuts and increased senior exemptions, attacking crime hot spots and even faster removal of stalled vehicles to reduce wrecks and traffic congestion.

Americans witnessed Mayor White's hands-on management style when he helped lead Houston's competent, compassionate response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Now in his third term, Mayor White is accelerating work to revitalize our City's most neglected neighborhoods, with foreclosure and hundreds of new housing starts on thousands of abandoned properties. He also initiated a program to weatherize thousands of homes in older neighborhoods, saving homeowners an average of 20 percent on their electricity bills.

In addition, Mayor White has aggressive programs to enforce pollution laws, reduce the flooding impact of new developments, raise high school graduation rates, and encourage more flexible working hours.

Before serving as mayor, White built one of the region's most successful businesses. Previously he served as Deputy Secretary of Energy of the United States, where he helped diversify national energy supplies and saved taxpayers billions of dollars with management reforms. Earlier in his career, he helped build and manage one of the nation's most successful law firms.

For decades Mayor White and his wife Andrea have helped lead numerous charitable and civic organizations. The Whites are parents of three students and attend St. Luke's United Methodist Church.

Steven Winn

CEO, Nuclear Innovation North America LLP (NINA)

Mr. Winn has been Chief Executive Officer of Nuclear Innovation North America, LLC., NINA, a affiliate of NRG Energy, since March 2008. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of nuclear development at NRG. Prior to this position, Mr. Winn was Executive Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions since January 2007. He also served as Executive Vice President and Regional President for NRG Texas following NRG's acquisition of Texas Genco LLC since February 2006. He served as Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions from April 2005 to December 2005, and as Director, Mergers and Acquisitions from November 2004, when he joined NRG, to April 2005.

Prior to joining NRG, Mr. Winn worked in Power and Energy Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of California-Berkeley and a Master's degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Finance from Cornell University.

James C. Yardley

Executive Vice President of El Paso Corporation and President of the Pipeline Group

El Paso owns the largest natural gas pipeline system in the United States and is also one of the nation's largest independent natural gas producers.

Yardley assumed his current role in August 2006. He has been with El Paso since 1978 and has held various roles in the company's pipeline business, offshore drilling business, and corporate staff. He has been based in Houston, Birmingham, Alabama, and London, and currently resides in Houston.

He also serves as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of El Paso Pipeline GP Company, L.L.C., the general partner of El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. He is also on the board of directors of Scorpion Offshore Ltd., a worldwide offshore contract driller.

Yardley is on the board of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and currently serves as its Chairman.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Duke University and Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

He has been married for 30 years and has three grown children.