About our speakers…
Dr. Fariborz Ghadar
Global Corporate Strategist
Fariborz Ghadar is the William A. Schreyer Chair of Global Management, Policies and Planning and Director, Center for Global Business Studies at The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business Administration. He specializes in global corporate strategy and implementation, international finance and banking, and global economic assessment. In particular, Dr. Ghadar is a leading authority on the impact of e-Business on global firms. Dr. Ghadar has also served as a consultant to a score of major corporations, governments, and government agencies and regularly conducts programs for executives of major multinational corporations here and abroad. His clients have included Aramco, AT&T, BASF, CalPERS, Compaq, Eastman Chemical, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, UBS, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the World Bank among many others.
Before joining The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Ghadar was Professor and Chairman of the International Business Department at The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. During the Shah's regime he held a vice-ministerial post in the Ministry of Commerce of Iran, having served as Deputy Vice Minister of Finance and Economy in charge of international investments and economic affairs. He has also served as an investment banker at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank), as well as research coordinator of the Harvard Multinational Enterprise Project.
Dr. Ghadar received his D.B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. He is a member of the Academy of International Business, the International Energy Economists Association, and the National Business Honor Fraternity. He is the author of eleven books and numerous articles, his most recent being The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers which was the lead article in the July/August (2000) issue of Harvard Business Review. Other publications include: Financing Growth in Developing Economies (1999), New Information Technology & Its Impact on Global Business Management (1998), and New Financial Instruments: Horizons for Risk Management (1996).
Dr. Ghadar has provided on-going strategic consultation as a member of the Board of Directors of a number of major U.S. firms and multi-national organizations. He is a frequent presenter at executive educational fora and was the recipient of AT&T’s prestigious 5.0 award in teaching excellence. Dr. Ghadar is also the recipient of the Marketing Educator of the Year Award, which is presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of marketing education and business development. While chairman of the Intrados Group, he was pleased to accept the Chief Information Officer (CIO) magazine’s annual CIO 100 Global Leaders Award. This award recognizes the top 100 international organizations for their business performance excellence and reputation for global leadership. In addition, he was named one of the top 10 Star’s of Finance by Business Week magazine.
Dr. Ghadar is frequently quoted in such internationally circulated publications as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has been a featured speaker and interviewee on the major television networks as well as the business broadcasts of CNN, CNBC, and Nightly Business Report.
Catherine Houska
Senior Market Development Manager
Catherine joined TMR in 1990. She combines metallurgical training and experience with strong international and domestic industrial marketing skills. She has performed market research, analysis, development and strategy work for a broad range of metal families and markets. This includes stainless, nickel-base alloys, aluminum, metal matrix composites, beryllium and its alloys, steel, powdered metals, and castings. Her market experience is diverse and includes architecture, plastic molds, electronics, and industrial equipment.
For more than ten years she has managed the market development program of the Nickel Institute to promote increased use of stainless steel in architecture in North America. During that time, the average annual growth rate for stainless steel architectural applications in North America has been 14%. She has participated in the training of thousands of architects through the Nickel Institute's architecture workshop program. Catherine is the author of the recent Nickel Development Institute Reference book, “Guidelines for Corrosion Prevention”.
She has authored or co-authored 43 technical publications. She is a member of ASM International and Construction Specifications Institute.
Donald R. McNeeley, Ph.D., is president and chief operating officer of Chicago Tube and Iron Corporation and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s McCormick Graduate School of Engineering. McNeeley, chairman of the Metals Service Center Institute, is also a former adjunct professor at DePaul University, recipient of that university’s Best Teaching Award in 1983 and 1998, and a former member of its Institute for Business and professional Ethics. McNeeley is a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He holds a B.A. degree in business and an M.B.A. with a concentration in human resource development, as well as a M.S. degree in management and organizational behavior. He received his Ph.D. with a major in business and concentration in economics. In addition to Harvard, McNeeley attended the University of Wisconsin, George Wiliams College and Benedictine University.
