Going Green: Competitive Advantage or Corporate Cost?

last updated 8 January 2015

Speakers

Mark Gumz, President & COO, Olympus America Inc.

F. Mark Gumz was appointed President & Chief Operating Officer of Olympus America Inc. in January 2000. He has had a long-standing association with Olympus, a precision technology leader creating opto-digital solutions in healthcare, life science and consumer electronics products. From 1977-1983 he was a Vice President of Olympus Camera Corporation, a corporate entity that pre-dates Olympus America. He was the first American hired for this company and was responsible for establishing the sales, marketing and distribution services of Olympus consumer products in the United States. From 1983 through 1999, he maintained an ongoing business relationship with Olympus globally as an independent businessman and consultant. Gumz serves on the boards of many Olympus Corporations subsidiaries, and is also President of Olympus Imaging America Inc., Olympus Medical Equipment Services America Inc. and Olympus Canada Inc. Gumz’ career began with The General Electric Company and has included management positions with the Marubeni America Corporation. He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and holds a B.A. in Humanities from The Ohio State University.

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Ashok Gupta is The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Air and Energy Program Director. He works with his colleagues on global warming, electric utility regulation, energy efficiency, renewables, sustainable building design and reducing petroleum dependence. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in economics from American University. He was co-chair of the energy and environmental policy advisory committee for Governor Spitzer’s transition and is NRDC’s representative on Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Energy Policy Task Force. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization with 1.2 million members and online activists.

John Hofmeister was appointed President of Shell Oil Company on March 1, 2005. He joined Shell as Director of Human Resources in 1997, and was based in The Hague and London. Prior to joining Shell he served as Vice President, International Human Resources, of AlliedSignal Inc, based in Hong Kong, and Vice President of Human Resources of Northern Telecom Inc. Hofmeister began his career in 1973 in the General Electric Lighting Business’ international marketing and sales department. During his fifteen years at GE, Mr. Hofmeister held a variety of marketing, manufacturing and human resource positions in five of GE’s major businesses, including locomotives, telecommunications, factory automation and electric motors. His last position at GE was General Manager, Motor Relations Operation. He holds bachelors and masters degrees in political science from Kansas State University. He is on the Boards of the Greater Houston Partnership, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Urban League. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is currently Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Advanced Human Resources Studies at Cornell University.

A seasoned, international executive with extensive business experience in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States, Paul Zeven is Chief Executive Officer of the North America Region for Royal Philips Electronics. Philips is a $34 billion global electronics company, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with 125,800 employees worldwide. During 2006, the North America Region accounted for approximately $9 billion in sales, predominately in the medical imaging and medical information systems arenas. Mr. Zeven was born in the Netherlands in 1947, but spent his youth largely in Latin America. He attended Nijenrode School of Business in Holland (graduated with honors), including a year as exchange student at Colorado College. He joined Philips in 1970, holding several positions in commercial management with the Video Product Division. From 1977 he spent four years as Commercial Manager of Philips Chile, and subsequently four years as Regional Manager Video for Latin America, based in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1986 he returned to The Netherlands to the Consumer Electronics Division, becoming Senior Vice-President in 1992. In this period he managed a number of markets outside of Europe. In 1997 he joined the Regional Management for Consumer Electronics Asia / Pacific, based in Singapore; in 1999, he became President of Philips Taiwan. He was transferred to São Paulo, Brazil in 2002, as CEO for Consumer Electronics Latin America, a function he held until being appointed to his current position in New York City on October 1, 2004.