75th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

Monday, May 6
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Timothy F. Geithner played a central role in formulating U.S. domestic and international economic policy during President Obama’s first term, while serving as the 75th Secretary of the Treasury. He was a principal architect of the President’s strategy to avert economic collapse and to reform the financial system, while also tackling a broad set of international economic challenges. He served in this position from Jan. 26, 2009, through Jan. 25, 2013.

Geithner previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, between 2003 and 2009. He first joined the Department of Treasury in 1988 and worked in a variety of positions in three administrations. From 1999 to 2001, Geithner served as Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, under secretaries Robert E. Rubin and Lawrence H. Summers.

He was Director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003. In 2001, he was also a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. Previously, he worked for Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Geithner earned his undergraduate degree in government and Asian studies from Dartmouth College. He was awarded a master’s degree in International Economics and East Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Author of The Element:  How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
and Out of Our Minds:  Learning to be Creative

Wednesday, May 8
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers, with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been seen by an estimated 200 million people in more than 150 countries. He works with governments in Europe, Asia and the United States; with international agencies; with Fortune 500 companies; and with some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture & Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, Unlocking Creativity, was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education and cultural leaders across the province. He was one of four international advisers to the Singapore government for its strategy to become the creative hub of Southeast Asia.

His book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Penguin/Viking 2009) is a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 21 languages. His latest book is a 10th anniversary edition of his classic work on creativity and innovation, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Capstone/Wiley).  

Chief Investment Strategist
Wells Capital Management

Tuesday, May 7
8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

James W. Paulsen is the Chief Investment Strategist at Wells Capital Management. An investment management industry professional since 1983, Paulsen develops investment strategies that assist in the management of separate institutional account assets as well as mutual and collective investment funds. In 1997, he joined Norwest Investment Management, Inc., which later combined with Wells Capital Management. Prior to that, Paulsen was the Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist for Investors Management Group in Des Moines, Iowa. Earlier, he was President of SCI Capital Management in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Paulsen is nationally recognized for his views on the economy. He frequently appears on several CNBC and Bloomberg Television programs, including regular appearances as a guest host on CNBC. Businessweek named him Top Economic Forecaster, and BondWeek twice named him Interest Rate Forecaster of the Year. For more than 25 years, Paulsen has published his own commentary assessing economic and market trends through his newsletter, Economic and Market Perspective, which was named one of the “101 Things Every Investor Should Know” by Money magazine.

Paulsen earned a bachelor’s and a doctoral degree in economics from Iowa State University.