Dr Jim O'Neill is chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). As chairman, he is involved in helping guide all aspects of GSAM’s business around the world. Prior to assuming this role in September 2010, Dr O’Neill was head of Global Economics, Commodities and Strategy Research. He serves on the European Management Committee and the Senior Diversity Council. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1995 as a partner, co-head of Global Economics Research and chief currency economist.

Prior to joining the firm, Dr O’Neill was head of research, globally, for Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) from 1991 to 1995. He joined SBC in 1988. Prior to that, he was with Bank of America and International Treasury Management, a division of Marine Midland Bank.

 
Dr O’Neill is the creator of the acronym BRICs. Together with his colleagues, he has published much research about BRICs, which has become synonymous with the emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China as the growth opportunities of the future.

Dr O’Neill is a member of the board of the Itinera Institute and has been on the board of Bruegel since its creation. He is a member of the UK-India Round Table and the UKIBC. He is chairman and one of the founding trustees of the London-based charity SHINE. He is also chairman of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership Advisory Board. Jim serves on the board of Teach for All and a number of other charities specializing in education.

Dr O’Neill previously served as a non-executive director of Manchester United before it returned to private ownership in 2005.

Dr O’Neill earned a degree in economics from Sheffield University in 1978 and a PhD from the University of Surrey in 1982. He received an honorary doctorate from the Institute of Education, University of London, in 2009 for his educational philanthropy.

Prof Tony F Chan is the President and Chair Professor in Computer Science & Engineering, and Mathematics at HKUST, a top-ranked university in Asia.

Prior to joining HKUST in September 2009, Prof Chan was Assistant Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in charge of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate, which is the largest directorate at NSF. In this position, he guided and managed research funding of about HK$10 billion a year in astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematical science, material science, and multidisciplinary activities. Before this, Prof Chan served the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1986 to 2006, and was promoted to Dean of Physical Sciences in 2001.

Prof Chan is an expert in mathematical image processing and computer vision. He has published over 200 refereed papers and is one of the world’s most cited mathematicians. He is also an active member of many scientific societies, including Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics where he had served on both the Board of Trustees and the Council, as well as Member of the American Mathematical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Prof Chan received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. He pursued postdoctoral research at Caltech, and was a faculty of Computer Science at Yale University before joining UCLA.

UC RUSAL (www.rusal.com) is the world’s largest producer of aluminium, in 2010 accounting for approximately 10% and 10% of global production of aluminium and alumina, respectively. UC RUSAL employs about 76,000 people in 19 countries, across 5 continents. UC RUSAL markets and sells its products primarily in the European, Asian and North American markets. UC RUSAL's ordinary shares are listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Stock code: 486) and global depositary shares representing UC RUSAL's ordinary shares are listed on the professional compartment of Euronext Paris.

Founded in March 2007, the United Company is a result of the merger of RUSAL, SUAL, and the alumina assets of Glencore of Switzerland. En+ Group owns a 47.41% stake in the United Company, 17.02% is owned by ONEXIM, SUAL’s shareholders hold 15.80 %, 8.62% is owned by Amokenga Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore, and others own 11.14%.

In 2010 UC RUSAL produced 4.1 mln tonnes of aluminium and 7.8 mln tonnes of alumina. United Company RUSAL's assets include bauxite and nepheline ore mines, alumina refineries, aluminium smelters, casthouse business for production of alloys, foil mills and production of packaging materials as well as power-generating assets.

RUSAL is comprised of 16 aluminium smelters, 12 alumina refineries, 8 bauxite mines, 3 powder metallurgy plants, 3 silicon smelters, 3 secondary aluminium plants, 3 aluminium foil mills, 2 cryolite plants, and one cathode plant. RUSAL has its own R&D and engineering capabilities and owns the RA-300 and RA-400 technologies.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), situated in Hong Kong, China, is a top-ranked university in Asia. Established in 1991, HKUST has five schools - Science, Engineering, Business and Management, Humanities and Social Science, as well as the Fok Ying Tung Graduate School in Nansha, Mainland China. The University has nine research institutes, among them the Institute for Advanced Study of HKUST, set up to foster cross-discipline collaboration among the top scientists and scholars in the world. Currently, there are about 6,200 undergraduate students and 3,700 postgraduate students. As a research university, HKUST focuses on five areas of frontier research, namely nano science and technology; biological sciences and biotechnology; electronics, wireless and information technology; environment and sustainable development as well as management education and research.

As a major initiative of HKUST's 2005-2020 Strategic Plan, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge to meet the great challenges of the 21st century. IAS aims to bring together the most brilliant minds to drive cutting-edge discovery and scholarship. Its goal is to be a premier intellectual center and a platform for innovation and scientific development in Hong Kong and the Greater China region. IAS has 26 Visiting Members, 2 Senior Visiting Fellows, 3 Affiliate Members and 4 Fellows from diverse disciplines who champion collaborative, inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional projects in high-impact areas. Since its establishment in 2006, it has sponsored some 180 distinguished lectures, seminars, conferences and workshops. Guest speakers include Nobel Laureates, members of National Academies, world renowned academics and researchers, senior government officials and business leaders.

"The Power of Focus: Turning Opportunity into Success"
Guest Speaker: Oleg Deripaska, CEO of UC RUSAL
Date: 21 September 2010
Details

"Equilibrium in the Labour Market with Search Frictions"
Guest Speaker: Christopher Pissarides, Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics of
London School of Economics and Political Science,
2010 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences
Date: 21 March 2011
Details