ATLANTA/MACON — Mercer University’s Executive Forum presented by BB&T will host five speakers as part of its 31st annual series. The 2010-2011 series includes separate events to kick-off the year in Atlanta and Macon. Michele Molden, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Heart Institute, will usher in the Atlanta series on Sept. 30 with a lunch presentation at the Capital City Club. On Oct. 12 in Macon, Jay Bilas, ESPN and CBS college basketball analyst, will give a dinner presentation at the University Center as part of a joint event with the Mercer Athletic Foundation.
The remaining speakers will present in Macon and Atlanta, featuring a lunch presentation in Atlanta at the Capital City Club and a dinner presentation at the University Center in Macon. In the fall, Frank Luntz, the most-quoted pollster in America, will speak Nov. 4, two days after the election, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Congress and the legislative agenda. In the spring, Stephen Moore, senior economist for The Wall Street Journal will speak Feb. 17, 2011, and Jerry S. Wilson, senior vice president and chief customer and commercial officer of the Coca-Cola Co. and a Mercer MBA alumnus, will give the concluding programs on April 26, 2011.
The Executive Forum is a membership organization and is open to businesses, organizations and individuals. For more on membership, call (478) 301-2943 or visit www.mercer.edu/forum/membership.
2010-2011 Line-Up
Michele Molden
Thursday, Sept. 30
Noon, Capital City Club, Atlanta
Molden began her career as a microbiologist, making medical devices for a small start-up company. In her 30-year career, she has been vice president of planning and marketing at St. Joseph’s Health System in Atlanta and senior vice president of outreach services for Olympic Health Management in Bellingham, Wash. Molden joined Piedmont Healthcare in 2002 as executive vice president of business development and helped create the Center for Health and Learning, a partnership between Piedmont Healthcare and Mercer University. In 2007, Molden facilitated the integration of three Atlanta-region cardiology groups and became president and CEO of the new Piedmont Heart Institute. Modern Healthcare magazine named Molden to its Top 25 Women in Healthcare list for 2009.
Jay Bilas
Tuesday, Oct. 12
6:30 p.m. University Center, Macon
Former Duke basketball standout and attorney, Bilas joined ESPN as a college basketball game analyst beginning with the 1995-96 season. Currently, Bilas serves as a game analyst, working more than 40 games a year, and studio analyst for ESPN’s weekly Saturday “College GameDay” road show, ESPN and ESPN2’s “College Gamenight,” halftimes, post-games and more. In addition, Bilas is a regular contributor to ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and Mobile ESPN. He also provides analysis for ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Draft, the NCAA Final Four and select “SportsCenter” stories, utilizing both his basketball and legal backgrounds. He has served as game analyst during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship for CBS Sports since 2003. Bilas was a four-year starter for Mike Krzyzewski on the Duke University men’s basketball team and helped lead Duke to the Final Four and National Championship game in 1986. He received his law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1992 and is currently Of Counsel to the Charlotte office of Moore & Van Allen, where he maintains a litigation practice.
Frank Luntz
Thursday, Nov. 4
Noon, Capital City Club, Atlanta
6:30 p.m. University Center, Macon
More media outlets have turned to Dr. Luntz for focus groups and consulting than to any other political pollster, making him one of the most honored political and communication professionals in America today. In addition to having worked with ABC News, NBC News, PBS, the BBC, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report and The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Luntz has written and supervised more than 400 surveys for political and corporate clients around the world. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in history and political science, and was named a Thouron Fellow. Dr. Luntz earned his Doctorate in politics at the age of 25 from Oxford University. He spoke for 24 straight hours as part of the Oxford Union Society’s Guinness World Book of Records debate. In the spring of 1993, Frank Luntz was named a Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the second youngest individual ever to receive this honor.
Stephen Moore
Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011
Noon, Capital City Club, Atlanta
6:30 p.m. University Center, Macon
Moore is a successful speaker and writer who joined The Wall Street Journal as a member of the editorial board and senior economics writer in 2005. He currently divides time between Washington and New York focusing on economic issues, including budget, tax and monetary policy. Prior to joining The Wall Street Journal, he was president of a new organization, the Free Enterprise Fund. For many years, Moore has served as a senior economist on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, as a budget expert for the Heritage Foundation and as a senior economics fellow at the Cato Institute. Through his Cato Institute affiliation, he has published dozens of studies on federal and state tax and budget policy. Moore was also a consultant to the National Economic Commission in 1987, and research director for President Reagan’s Commission on Privatization. He is the author of five books, including The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy – If We Let it Happen, It’s Getting Better All the Time: The 100 Greatest Trends of the Last Century, and Bullish on Bush: How the Ownership Society Will Make America Stronger. He graduated from the University of Illinois and holds a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University.
Jerry S. Wilson
Thursday, April 26, 2011
Noon, Capital City Club, Atlanta
6:30 p.m. University Center, Macon
As chief customer and commercial officer and senior vice president at Coca-Cola, Wilson is responsible for crafting and executing the company’s global customer and commercial leadership strategy and agenda. Wilson joined Coca-Cola in 1988 from Volkswagen of America Inc., where he was USA Brand Manager. He has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility at Coca-Cola in general management, consumer marketing and strategic planning, serving as western area vice president, director of strategic marketing, and director of sales operations within the Coca-Cola USA Foodservice division. Prior to his current role, Wilson served as president of the McDonald’s Division, where he led Coca-Cola’s worldwide organization responsible for growing this important business alliance in 118 countries and more than 31,000 restaurants. Wilson earned his Master of Business Administration from Mercer’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics and his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia.
About the Executive Forum Presented by BB&T
The Executive Forum presented by BB&T is a business outreach program of Mercer University’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, and the Office of University Advancement. The Executive Forum provides business professionals with an opportunity to hear nationally noted speakers while networking with other business leaders. For more information, call Mercer’s Office of University Advancement at (800) 837-2911 or (478) 301-2724 or visit www.mercer.edu/forum.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,000 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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