Tulane Business Forum

Bobby Jindal
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.
Jindal was Louisiana's Secretary for Health and Hospitals from 1996 to 1998 before being named executive director for the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. In July 1991 he was named Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he serves as principal policy advisor to the Secretary. Jindal will provide an overview of how Louisiana can increase its federal research funding.

9:20 - Panel Presentation - Future of Biotechnology Industry in Louisiana

Panelists:
John Crowley
Senior Vice President, Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Carla Fishman
Executive Director, Office of Technology Development, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

James Hardy, BSM'79
Director of Technology Development, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Peter Urbanowicz, BA'85, JD'89 (moderator)
Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.

Is Louisiana ready and able to pull together its resources to nurture the rapidly expanding biotechnology industry? The biotech industry is one of the most research-intensive industries in the world. New Orleans has an established strength in research through the combined work of the Tulane and LSU Health Sciences Centers. There are over 1,200 biotechnology companies in the U.S., of which 300 are publicly held. In 2000, spending in this industry was $353 billion-an increase of 156 percent in one year. How will Louisiana share in this opportunity?

10:30 - Journalism in the Digital Age

Walter Isaacson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia
A native of New Orleans, Isaacson's career spans 25 years of journalism including time at The Times-Picayune, Time magazine and, since 2001, as Chairman and CEO of CNN. Launched more than 20 years ago, CNN is one of the world's most respected and trusted sources for news and information. Isaacson will discuss how the changes in information technology have affected the world and how we have evolved because of CNN.

11:15 - Economic Development Outlook for New Orleans

Beth James
Director of Economic Development, City of New Orleans

11:30 - Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone--A Secret to Success

J. M. Bernhard, Jr.
Chairman, President and CEO, The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Bernhard founded The Shaw Group in 1987 with $50,000 and three people. Today, with over 20,000 employees and revenues exceeding $2.5 billion, The Shaw Group is a true success story that never left Louisiana. Shaw is the only vertically integrated provider of complete piping systems and comprehensive engineering, procurement and construction services in the U.S. Bernhard will define this success as he explains in his own words what it means to "step out of your comfort zone."

12:15 - Luncheon

James W. McFarland
Dean, A. B. Freeman School of Business

David Oreck
Chairman and Founder, Oreck Corporation, New Orleans, Louisiana
Oreck Corporation began in 1963 as a manufacturer of upright vacuum cleaners for the hotel industry; today Oreck Corporation has a global reputation for producing the very finest cleaning equipment for the retail and hotel industries. Oreck will discuss how marketing builds brands. At a time when substantive product differentiation is hard to find, good brands are the difference between profit and loss for the manufacturer.