The Leading Speakers Bureau

Joint Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, 2004

Dr. Edward Prescott was awarded the Nobel Prize for contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles. He is currently working as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and a Professor at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. His work has altered the course of macroeconomic thinking in the past three decades.

“Edward Prescott is a major figure in macroeconomics, especially the theories of business cycles and general equilibrium”

[expand title=”In detail”] Edward Prescott received his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Swarthmore College, a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University. He has held teaching positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Pennsylvania. During 1979-82, he served on the faculties of Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Kellogg School of Management. He is a co-editor of Economic Theory and a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a former president of the Society of Economic Dynamics and Control and Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory and a former associate editor of the Journal of Economic Theory, International Economic Review and the Journal of Econometrics.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Lauded for a lifetime of original thinking that has addressed some of the most important long-standing questions in macroeconomics, Edward Prescott describes himself as an econometrician, namely someone dedicated to making neoclassical economics quantitative. His contributions to economics have not only fueled advances in theoretical work, but have also had profound impacts at a policy level and his audiences benefit from this wisdom. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Having transformed the methods of macroeconomic thinking, Edward Prescott lays out theory in his presentations, so simply and clearly, knowing and understanding the importance and power of good language. His audiences don’t learn to be acolytes of Ed Prescott – they learn to be excellent researchers, to think for themselves.[/expand]
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One of the World’s Most Influential Industrial Designers & Architects

Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with the use of possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminium or polyamide and his radical re-conception of the form and structure of furniture has put him at the forefront of contemporary design. He is currently Professor of Design Product at the Royal College of Art in London.

“Ron Arad constantly pushes the boundaries of design”

[expand title=”In detail”] Ron Arad was educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London. He co-founded with Caroline Thorman both the design and production studio ‘One Off’ in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice. From 1994 to 1999 he established the Ron Arad Studio, design and production unit in Como, Italy. He has exhibited at major museums and galleries throughout the world. Among his most famous works are the sinuous Bookworm bookcase (1994), a bestseller for the Italian design firm Kartell and originally produced as a result of experiments with tempered steel, and the Maserati headquarters showroom in Modena, Italy (2003).[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Ron Arad is in high demand these days, having emerged as one of the world’s most influential industrial designers and architects. A true original, Arad has acquired a reputation for shattering conventions and his unforgettable presentations provide ideas and insights into his unique thinking. He was head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art in London from 1999 to 2006 and continues to lecture on his work regularly at universities and design schools worldwide. His influence is undeniable.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Consistently inventive and challenging, Ron Arad is a true source of inspiration, challenging his audiences, not wanting to see things that he’s seen before. He talks about his work, explains his projects and tells us the story of his amazing career. [/expand]
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British Actor, Writer, Comedian, TV Presenter and Film Director

Stephen Fry is one of the few living legends of acting and comedy and a great after dinner speaker and host. As a solo actor, he played the lead in the film Wilde, was Melchett in the Blackadder TV series and is the host of the erudite, but comedy-based quiz show, QI. He also presented a 2008 television series Stephen Fry in America having become known to American audiences for his recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series Bones.

Stephen has been described as a “national treasure”, “a phenomenon”, and “an epitome of the Renaissance man”

[expand title=”In detail”] Stephen Fry first came to attention in the 1982 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation, The Cellar Tapes. Apart from his work in television, he has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and an autobiography. Stephen is enormously well-loved for his numerous television appearances, including The Young Ones, Blackadder, Saturday and Friday Live, Alias Smith and Jones, The Lenny Henry Show, A Bit Of Fry And Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, The Wind in the Willows, The Thin Blue Line and Fortysomething among others. His film credits include Peter’s Friends, The Good Father, The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball, A Handful of Dust and A Fish Called Wanda.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]His presence at any event adds prestige and good humour, delighting fans and non-fans. Now in demand as an after dinner speaker at corporate entertainment events, Stephen is able to use a mix of humour and wit to offer his audiences a memorable and entertaining evening.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Britain’s best-loved comic genius, Stephen Fry is a wonderfully funny and highly informative speaker and presenter.[/expand]
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Highly Successful Entrepreneur

Klaus Kobjoll is a highly successful and noted entrepreneur in the hotel and restaurant business in Europe. He is the owner of the established Country Hotel and Creative Centre Schindlerhof and winner of the European Quality Award for Independent SME’s 1998, Paris.

Klaus Kobjoll studied at the D.Speiser hotel school in Tegernsee, Bad Wiesee and at the Lycée Technique Hôtelier in Strasbourg, France. He also spent some time studying in England.

[expand title=”In detail”] He began his career at the age of 22 when he established himself as self-employed entrepreneur starting the “Crêperie Rennaise” in Erlangen in 1970. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s he opened several restaurants including a French Bistro called “Café des Arts”, a jazz cellar with live music called “Strohalm” and a restaurant called “Prison St. Michel” in Nuremberg. In 1978 he opened his first hotel “Landhotel Mörsbergei” with 19 rooms and 80 restaurant seats.

His most important venture to date, however, has been the “Landhotel Schindlerhof” which he opened in 1984 in Nuremberg. He bought the Schindlerhof property in 1988 and began to expand. In 1990 construction was completed of the “Schindlerhof Creative Centre”. In 1998, he won the highest quality prize in Europe for the “Landhotel Schindlerhof”: The European Quality Award 1998.

Klaus Kobjoll is the co-founder and honorary chairman of the “Landidyll” co-operative hotel project, currently with 70 member organisations in Germany, Austria and France. He is a regular lecturer in Marketing at courses for a hotelier’s degree at the Swiss Hotelier’s Association (SHV).

He is also a member of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) and is the first full member of the Swiss Hotelier’s Association (SHV).[/expand]
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Leading Innovator, Director of Game Research & Development, Institute for the Future

Jane McGonigal is a brilliant designer of online mass roleplaying games. She’s also on the forefront of academic research on societal development and computer gaming. She is best known for creating games that inspire global-scale collaboration and collective intelligences. Most recently, she directed the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game Superstruct, which brought together more than 7000 future forecasters from 90 countries to tackle real-world problems such as pandemics, food systems, and climate change. The Association of Professional Futurists honoured Superstruct as the “Most Important Futures Work of 2008”.

“The leading innovator in the field of game design for future forecasting and problem solving”

[expand title=”In detail”] Jane McGonigal has a PhD from UC Berkeley in performance studies. A pioneer in the field of “alternate reality gaming”, her previous projects include The Lost Ring, World Without Oil, Cruel 2 B Kind, and I Love Bees. She is an expert on applying game design and game theory to real work and real business, and has consulted and developed internal game workshops for leading technology companies in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., as well as more than a dozen Fortune Global 500 Companies. A recent project, co-sponsored by the 2008 Olympics and McDonalds, was a global immersive adventure titled, The Lost Ring.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]World-renowned game designer and futurist Jane McGonigal takes play seriously. Hailed as one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company, she has studied how games change lives, spending a lot of my time figuring out how the games we play today shape our real-world future. In her highly sought-after presentations she discusses how games optimize human ability and demonstrates how games can harness the power of collective intelligence to solve real-world problems. She studies the power of games to impact the real-world — and she creates games that do just that.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]A very compelling, funny and engaging speaker, Jane McGonigal has a wonderfully contagious combination of energy, imagination and positivity, leaving her audiences excited and inspired by her talks. Jane is trying to make sure that a game developer wins a Nobel Prize by the year 2032.[/expand]
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Philanthropist, World Famous Author & Creator of the Harry Potter Series

Joanne “Jo” Murray OBE better known as J. K. Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her “rags to riches” life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies, and been the basis for a popular series of films. Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom.

Forbes ranked J. K. Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007

[expand title=”In detail”] In 2000, graduate of Exeter University, a teacher and then an unemployed single parent, “Jo” established the Volant Charitable Trust, which combats poverty and social inequality and in 2005 founded the Children’s High Level Group. She is the president of the charity One Parent Families. She has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Napier University, the University of Exeter and the University of Aberdeen. The Harry Potter novels have been translated into more than 60 languages.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Perhaps no one in our time has done more than J.K. Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading. She conveys the idea that we do not need magic to transform the world. She emphasizes that we should not be afraid of failure in life as our imaginations are our greatest gifts. She is an experienced speaker, having spoken at prestigious global events including being Harvard University’s principal commencement speaker.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]J. K. Rowling speaks from the heart and provides inspiration to a wide ranging worldwide audience.[/expand]
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2007 Joint Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Vice Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Prof. Mohan Munasinghe is Chairman of the Munasinghe Institute of Development (MIND), Colombo; Director-General of the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manchester; and Honorary Senior Advisor to the Sri Lanka Government. As Vice-Chairman of the United Nations IPCC, Professor Munasinghe shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace, for his work on global warming and sustainable development.

“Prof. Munasinghe is a multi international prize winner for his research and its applications”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mohan Munasinghe has earned post-graduate degrees in engineering, physics and development economics from Cambridge University (UK), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), and McGill University and Concordia University (Canada). During 35 years of distinguished public service, he has served as Senior Energy Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka, Advisor to the United States Presidents Council on Environmental Quality, and Senior Advisor to the World Bank. He is a Fellow of several international Academies of Science, and serves on the editorial boards of a dozen academic journals.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Mohan Munasinghe delivers insightful keynote speeches at gatherings ranging from high level international conferences to community meetings. He offers presentations and training seminars to corporations and governments on climate change, sustainable development, environment, economics, energy, transport, water resources, and information technology.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Mohan Munasinghe challenges audiences with his hard hitting, informative and well researched presentations.[/expand]
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Former CEO & Chairman of the Management Board of Gucci Group, Fortune Magazine’s European Businessman of the Year 2007

Robert Polet joined Gucci Group in 2004 after a 26-year career at Unilever, bringing considerable global management experience and a deep knowledge of the development of consumer brands in a multicultural environment. His dynamism has helped turn around luxury goods company Gucci Group and was named as European Businessman of the Year 2007 by Fortune magazine. He encourages the people working with him to break rules and to go outside the box.

“The man who has put the extra into extravagance”

[expand title=”In detail”] Robert Polet studied business administration at Nijenrode in the Netherlands and earned an MBA from the University of Oregon, USA. He joined Unilever in 1978, and has worked there in a broad variety of marketing and senior executive positions throughout the world. In his latest position, he was president of Unilever’s Worldwide Ice Cream and Frozen Foods division. Where Robert Polet exerts control at Gucci is in selecting the right leaders, and he then enjoys letting them “Go for it”.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Robert Polet shares his ideas for managing fashion brands, where art and commerce collide, with international audiences at events worldwide. His motto is “always put yourself through the hardship of keeping things simple” and his self-confidence and single-mindedness have brought success throughout his career. His people oriented leadership produces extraordinary results. He is open-minded, very direct, very transparent, and a fine speaker.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Never having been one to adhere to rules and protocols, this highly charismatic Dutchman, Robert Polet is truly insightful and memorable.[/expand]
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