Programme

PwC, Global Strategy and Leadership Blair Sheppard joined PwC in June 2012 as Global Leader, Strategy and Leadership. Blair leads the team who focus on strategy and leadership for the PwC Network, working closely with leaders of the lines of service, clients and markets, and PwC member firms. He is also Professor and Dean Emeritus of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Prior to joining PwC, Blair was Special Advisor to Duke Kunshan University and was responsible for directing corporate development, non-degree programme development and regional development for the newly formed campus in China which opened in summer 2014. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Dean of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University during which time Fuqua opened offices in five locations outside the U.S., developed a pre-experience Masters programme already considered to be one of the best in the world, and rose across all business school rankings significantly. Until 2015, Blair served for as the Chair of the Board for Duke Corporate Education (Duke CE), a company that he founded in 2000. Under his leadership, Duke CE grew from one office to multiple offices on three continents and was ranked #1 in the world for customised executive education by the Financial Times and BusinessWeek for twelve years in a row. Blair has advised more than 100 companies and governments in the areas of leadership, corporate strategy, organisational relationships and design, and has published more than 50 books and articles. Blair was the first recipient of faculty of the year at Fuqua; received the Business Person of the Year award for Education in 2011 (Triangle Business Journal); Eminent Scholar Award, Institute of Finance, Frankfurt University in 2007; and was a Canada Council Doctoral Fellow. Blair received his Doctorate in social psychology from the University of Illinois in 1980 and his Masters from the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario) in 1977.

Dr. Xiang Bing is the Founding Dean and a Professor of Chinese Business and Globalization at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), a leading business school in China. Established in November 2002, CKGSB is China’s first privately funded and faculty-governed business school. Dr. Xiang’s research interests include the relationship between state and business, the reform of state-owned enterprises, innovation and the role of the private sector in China. He is a leading authority on Chinese business, innovations in China, the globalization of Chinese companies and the global implications of the transformation of China. His writings and cases on these subjects are considered among the most influential in China. He is an independent board member of a number of companies listed in Hong Kong, mainland China and the US. He also serves as a member of the boards of trustees for The United Way Worldwide (US) and for Asia House (UK), as well as a member of the International Advisory Council of FDC business school in Brazil. He has worked with many leading companies to offer consulting and training in China and globally. These companies include China Mobile, China Telecom, Huawei Technologies, TCL, Midea, Petro China, CNOOC, IBM (China), GE (China), Siemens (China), Goldman Sachs (Asia), Clifford Chance, Cummins, DFS, Lenovo, Bank of China and China Railway Construction Corporation.

Ruben Vardanyan, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist, is Advisor to the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sberbank of Russia. Prior to the merger with Sberbank in January 2012, he served as CEO, Chairman of the board at Troika Dialog, one of the oldest and largest investment banks in Russia and the CIS. Mr. Vardanyan is a Board member at AvtoVAZ, KAMAZ, SIBUR, Joule Unlimited, Inc (U.S.), Rosgosstrakh, and AmeriaBank (Armenia). He is a member of the Economic Advisory Board at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the Investment Committee of Avica Property Investors International. He was Chairman of the board at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft from 2005-2009 and Chairman of the board at Rosgosstrakh from 2004-2005 and from August 2011 through October 2013. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the Presidential Council for National Priority Projects, a Founding Partner of the SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management and Vice-Chairman of its International Advisory Board. He also chairs the school’s Institute for Emerging Market Studies and oversees its Wealth Management and Philanthropy Center. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the International Advisory Boards of the International Christian University (Japan) and Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC, Brazil). He is also a member of the Supreme Religious Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Mr. Vardanyan graduated from the Moscow State University. His post-graduate resume includes training at different international institutes and schools including INSEAD, the Harvard Business School, Yale University and Stanford.

Diploma in Economics, Moscow State University named after M. Lomonosov. In 1992 Yaroslav Kuzminov and Evgeny Yasin came forward with the project of a new type of university specializing in Economics. In 2011 Y. Kuzminov headed the Expert Group “Labor market, Professional Education, and Migration Policy” in the framework of the development of the Russian Federation “Strategy 2020”. Yaroslav Kuzminov is Deputy Head of the National Coordination Council for Supporting Young Gifted People; member of presidium of Presidential Economic Council; member the Presidential Commission on for Civil Service and Management Personnel Pool established; member of the Government Commission for the Coordination of the Open Government; member of the Government Commission on Economic Development and Integration et etc. Professor Kuzminov is an author of more than 100 academic works published in Russia and abroad, and a co-author of over 10 monographs and textbooks. He has been also regularly writing for leading Russian and foreign periodicals. By decrees of the President of the Russian Federation Y. Kuzminov has been awarded the Order For Merit to the Fatherland (2012) of the IV class and the Order of Honour (2002).

Professor Igor Anatolyevich Maksimtsev, Ph.D. (Economics), Rector of St Petersburg State University of Economics, is a prominent administrator and director of a higher school. Professor Maksimtsev’s work is primarily geared towards the development of educational and research activities at the University and improving the quality of professional training. Professor Maksimtsev is the recipient of a St Petersburg Government Award for achievements in the field of higher professional education. He is responsible for overseeing the restructuring of the economics departments at three leading St Petersburg universities (St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, St Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics and St Petersburg State University of Service and Economics). This work provided the basis for the creation of St Petersburg State University of Economics. Professor Maksimtsev is actively involved in the creation of legislative norms aimed at the improvement and development of higher education. He is a member of the Expert Council on the Legislative Provision of Education of the Council of the Federation Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Information Policy and a member of the St Petersburg Central Region Public Council. Professor Maksimtsev’s name is on the list of the ‘Top 100’ High-Potential Management Personnel Reserve under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Mau is Doctor of Economics, Professor, PhD, Honored Economist of the Russian Federation. Born on 29 December 1959 in Moscow, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of National Economy in 1981. Since 1991 he participated in the development and implementation of economic reforms in Russia, including working as Advisor to the Chairman of the Russian Government from 1992-1993. From 1997-2002 Mau was the Head of the Working Center for Economic Reforms of the Russian Government. In 2002, he became the Rector of the Academy of National Economy of the Russian Government, and in 2010 the Rector of the newly formed the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Rector Mau is a renowned expert in the field of economic theory, the history of economic thought and national economy. He is the author of 25 monographs, books and textbooks published in Russia and the UK, as well as more than 600 other works. The main results of his research focus on economic history and the history of economic thought in Russia and the USSR; the theory and history of economic policy; economic transformation and economic reforms. Rector Mau is a member of Economic Council of the President of Russian Federation. He is and also a chairman of the Expert Board under the Government Commission for Economic Development and Integration, and member of several governmental commissions and committees.

Oleg Kharkhordin is a graduate of the Department of Economics, Leningrad State University (1985). He studied for his doctorate at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, USSR Academy of Sciences, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a PhD in Political Science (1996). Oleg Kharkhordin was a member of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (1996–1998). He also taught as a visiting professor at the Department of Political Science at Yale University (2002), at the Department of Government at Harvard University (2002–2003), and at Sciences Po, Paris (2005, 2006, 2008). Oleg Kharkhordin is a member of the Presidential Council for Science and Education.