Shaping the - Milken Institute

p a n e l i s t s
Gray Davis, the 37th Governor of California, is Of Counsel at Loeb & Loeb LLP. While governor, Davis signed legislation
to strengthen California’s K-12 education system, increase accountability in schools and expand access to higher
education with a record number of scholarships and college loans. These reforms led to improvement in achievement
scores for six consecutive years. He presided over an expansion in the state’s economy, during which California moved
from the seventh- to the fifth-largest economy in the world. Davis made record investments in California’s infrastructure,
created four Centers for Science and Innovation on University of California campuses and expanded the California
Healthy Families program to provide health insurance for an additional 1 million children. While governor, he provided
more than $2.5 billion for job training, employee recruitment, tuition assistance and job-placement services. Davis
received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Columbia University Law School.
James Davis is President of Chevron Energy Solutions (CES). Since 2000 he has built CES into one of the world’s
leading energy efficiency and renewable energy services companies, and the largest developer of solar power solutions
for education facilities in North America. Named a Top 50 firm by Fast Company magazine in 2009, CES has developed
hundreds of environmentally friendly projects that are now saving institutions and businesses more than $1 billion in
energy costs. Earlier in his career, Davis was senior vice president of integrated solutions for PG&E Energy Services. The
success of that business led to its purchase by Chevron in 2000, creating CES. He also served as senior vice president of
marketing and sales at Duke/Louis Dreyfus, and managed global account teams for two natural gas marketing firms.
Davis received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio State University.
Jacob Dayan is the Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, serving as Israel’s senior representative in the
southwestern United States. Before assuming this post, he was selected to prepare a strategic plan on the feasibility
of opening negotiations with Syria. Previously he served as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom. In this position he was involved in policy
formation and implementation. Earlier, as policy adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dayan was responsible for
the minister’s work in U.S., Asian, East European and Middle Eastern affairs. He served in the role of political counselor
at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. He has also held the post of deputy chief at the Israeli embassy in Athens.
Dayan has a bachelor’s degree in classics and history from Tel Aviv University.
Stephen DeAngelis is Founder, President and CEO of Enterra Solutions LLC, which specializes in advanced
enterprise management systems that help clients proactively mitigate strategic risk, further competitive advantage and
optimize performance. A privately funded company headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with operations in Reston,
Virginia, and an office in Kurdistan, Enterra serves a range of enterprises representing industries and governments
worldwide. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, DeAngelis is a visiting scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
a visiting scientist at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute and a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the
United States Merchant Marine Academy. In 2008 DeAngelis joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Iraq Initiative as its
co-chair; he is also co-chair of its Kurdistan Region of Iraq Investment Task Force.
Joseph Dear is Chief Investment Officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), where
he oversees all asset classes in which CalPERS invests. Dear also directs the CalPERS Investment Office strategic
plan, which includes tactical asset allocation, risk management, business development, budget authority and new
investment programs. Prior to joining CalPERS in 2009, Dear served as executive director of the Washington State
Investment Board, where he was responsible for more than $67.6 billion within 38 funds comprising defined benefit
and defined contribution retirement, deferred compensation, workers’ compensation, and permanent and other trust
funds. He previously served as chief of staff for Washington State Gov. Gary Locke and assistant secretary of labor at the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration under President Clinton. Presently he chairs the Council of Institutional
Investors. Dear received a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
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p a n e l i s t s
Paul Deninger is Vice Chairman of Jefferies & Company Inc. Previously he was chairman and CEO of Broadview,
the specialist technology investment banking firm, where he remained until its acquisition by Jefferies in 2003. With
more than 20 years of experience advising companies in the technology market and more recently the clean-tech
market, Deninger has advised on more than 125 mergers and acquisitions and numerous IPOs. Presently he sits on
the investment committee of London-based Kennet Partners and the executive committee of TechNet; he is also cochairman
of TechNet New England. A member of the World Economic Forum since 1996, he serves on the boards of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay and Boston’s MATCH Charter Public High School.
Deninger received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Diane Denish is Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico. A successful small-business owner and native of a rural
community, Denish is committed to fostering entrepreneurship and economic development throughout the state.
She has championed increased micro-lending opportunities for small businesses, expanding the role of the state
Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) and turning it into a $40 million economic engine lending capital to
thousands of small enterprises. Denish has also fostered strong pathways between education and the state’s emerging
industries, such as renewable energy and film, believing that an educated and nimble work force is key to attracting
the companies that will fuel the economic recovery. This conviction led her to champion a fully aligned, pre-K through
college education system that is focused on closing the achievement gap and meeting the economic demands of the
21st century.
Ross DeVol is Director of Regional Economics and the Center for Health Economics at the Milken Institute. He
oversees research on comparative regional growth performance, technology and its impact on regional and national
economies, and health-related topics. He was the principal author of An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of
Chronic Disease, which brought to light the economic losses associated with preventable illnesses and estimated
the avoidable costs if a serious effort were made to improve Americans’ health. He also authored America’s High-Tech
Economy: Growth, Development and Risks for Metropolitan Areas and created the Best-Performing Cities Index, an annual
ranking of U.S. metropolitan areas that shows where jobs are being created. Other recent work involves the study of
biotechnology and life-science clusters and their impact on regional economies. DeVol was previously senior vice
president of Global Insight Inc.
Peter Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which awarded the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE
for private spaceflight. The foundation is now developing awards in such fields as genomics, automotive research,
education, medicine and energy. Diamandis is also chairman and CEO of the Zero Gravity Corp., developing private,
parabolic flight utilizing a Boeing 727-200 aircraft. He is a co-founder of Space Adventures, which brokered the launches
of four private citizens to the International Space Station, and co-founder of the International Space University in
Strasbourg, France. He is the winner of the 2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Innovation, the 2006 Heinlein Award and the
2006 Lindbergh Award. His mission is to open the space frontier for humanity. Diamandis received a bachelor’s degree
in molecular genetics and a graduate degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
he also received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Lisa Donahue is Co-Head of the Turnaround and Restructuring Practice of AlixPartners, where she specializes
in financial and operational reorganizations. Previously she was the chief restructuring officer of SemGroup LP. With
extensive experience in cash management and cost reduction, situational analysis and debt restructuring for both
domestic and international organizations, Donahue has been successful as both an interim executive and financial
adviser. She has held chief executive positions at Calpine Corp., New World Pasta and Exide Technologies, and is a
member of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation and the Association for Corporate
Growth. She sits on the New York Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute. Donahue holds a degree in
finance and accounting from Florida State University.
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