SPEAKERS

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Flagship Session | JFK JR. FORUM
Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | Fireside Chat | HKS IOP 166

Luc Frieden completed his primary and secondary education in Luxembourg before earning a Master’s degree in Business Law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in 1986.
He continued his postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College) in the United Kingdom, where he obtained a Master of Comparative Law (LLM).
In 1988, he completed a Master of Laws (LLM) at Harvard Law School in the United States.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Flasgship Session | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Sophie Wilmès became a Member of the European Parliament in 2024 and currently serves as one of its Vice-Presidents. She is First Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the United States and a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS). She is also a substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
A member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR), affiliated with the Renew Europe group, Ms. Wilmès previously served as a Belgian federal deputy and as Minister for the Budget, with responsibility for Public Administration and Scientific Policy. From October 2019 to October 2020, she was Belgium’s first woman Prime Minister, leading the country during the COVID-19 crisis, and later served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Throughout her career, she has received several prestigious honors, including Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold (2019), the Serge Lazareff Prize awarded by NATO (2021), Grand-Croix de l’Ordre du Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (2023), and Grand Officier de l’Ordre de Léopold (2024).

Ms. Wilmès holds degrees from the Institute of Higher Social Communication Studies and the Institut Supérieur de Commerce Saint-Louis and is the mother of four children.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Flagship Session | JFK JR. FORUM

Robert Habeck served as Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for the Federal Republic of Germany from 2021-2025. He has also served as chair of the Alliance 90/The Greens party from 2018 to 2022. Previously, Habeck was appointed Minister and Deputy Minister-President of the State of Schleswig-Holstein for six years, where he also led the Ministry of Energy, the Environment, Agriculture and Digitalization.

Habeck holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Hamburg. This spring, he serves as a John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University. 

Friday February 6 | 12:30–1:45 | Opening Ceremony – Flagship Session | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Leo Varadkar was Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, of Ireland from 2017-2020 and again from 2022-2024.  He served in cabinet for 13 years in the Ministries of Transport, Tourism & Sport, Enterprise, Trade, Employment, Social Protection and Health.
As Taoiseach, Varadkar received international recognition for his leadership of Ireland’s public health and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. He led Ireland through Brexit preventing a hard border between North and South, maintaining Ireland’s place at the heart of the European Union, its single market and upholding the Good Friday Agreement. The Governments he participated in lifted Ireland’s ban on abortion and improved LGBT rights including the introduction of marriage equality and a gender recognition law. He also prioritized equality between men and women including gender pay gap reporting, greater diversity on state and corporate boards and linking state funding for political parties to election candidate quotas.
A strong supporter of Irish unification, he allocated over a €1billion to North-South projects under the Shared Island Fund and helped to get the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement operating again.
During his premiership, Ireland dramatically increased its budget for international development and was elected to serve on the UN Security Council.
At the time of leaving office, Ireland had record levels of employment and a budget surplus allowing for increased levels of investment in public infrastructure like new public housing, public transport, climate action, new schools and healthcare facilities to ameliorate the country’s considerable infrastructure deficits. He also doubled spending on the arts, culture and sport and significantly enhanced workers rights including the introduction of paternity benefit, paid parental leave, statutory sick pay, new protections for the self-employed and major progress towards a living wage and occupational pensions for all workers.
Greenhouse gas emissions reached a 30 year low during his premiership on foot of a new climate law with legally-binding targets, a ban on new fossil fuel exploration licenses, major investment in renewable energy and a carbon tax with revenues ring-fenced for climate initiatives.
As Taoiseach, he established a Child Poverty and Wellbeing Program to drive cross-government work on the matter. Early results include the introduction of free school books, hot school meals, subsidized childcare, better access to higher education for lone parents and higher welfare payments for children in greatest need.   

He is a medical doctor, qualified GP and a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He is a member of Ireland’s Council of State.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Flagship Session | JFK JR. FORUM

Dr Christos Christou is the outgoing International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), leading the organization from 2019 to 2025 through some of the most complex and politically challenging humanitarian crises of recent decades.
He first joined MSF in 2002 as a field doctor in migration projects in Greece and HIV/AIDS programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, before returning as a trauma surgeon in conflict settings including Sudan, South Sudan, Iraq, Cameroon, and Yemen.
He specialized in general and transplantation surgery in Athens and later continued his clinical career in London as Colorectal Surgery Fellow at King’s College Hospital and Consultant at North Middlesex University Hospital. He holds a PhD in surgery and is a Fellow of the European Board of Surgery in Coloproctology. He also holds an MSc in International Health – Health Crisis Management and is a member of its faculty at the University of Athens.
In 2025, Dr Christou was included in the TIME100 list, recognized among the most influential voices shaping the future of giving. He has spoken at major international platforms including the United Nations, WHA, COP28, ECOSOC, WISH, and the World Health Summit.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Adrián Vázquez Lázara is a Spanish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2020, currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO). In the previous term, he held the position of Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI).

Additionally, he is an active member of the Budgetary Control and Human Rights committees, as well as a member of the parliamentary delegation for relations with the United States of America.

Throughout his parliamentary career, Vázquez has been a staunch defender of the rule of law, a core principle of the European Union and liberal democracy, as well as a proponent of fundamental rights and anti-corruption measures. Notably, he played a key role in the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of three MEPs accused of sedition and embezzlement by the Spanish High Court. This complex process, which faced significant political pressures from separatist groups and actions by the Spanish government, was supported by the majority of the European Parliament and later upheld by the EU General Court. Vázquez’s leadership exposed the fraudulent nature of the MEPs’ appointments and highlighted the irregularities in their roles.
In terms of legislative accomplishments, Vázquez has contributed to significant initiatives, including the passage of directives that mandate greater transparency from large corporations regarding their environmental impact and human rights obligations. Additionally, he was involved in modernizing the European intellectual property (IP) and patents framework.

Before his tenure in the European Parliament, Vázquez built a diverse career, serving as a political advisor and researcher for several international organizations such as NATO, the OSCE, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. He also served as Chief of Staff to former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. His experience extends to the private sector, where he worked as a public affairs consultant, and he currently contributes as an academic associate at various Spanish universities.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | A Career in European Institutions | WEXNER 330

Amelie Giesemann currently serves as the Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, D.C. She brings over 15 years of experience within the European Parliament.
Most recently, she served for three years as a Cabinet Member to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, where she was responsible for key policy areas including economic affairs, digital policy, trade, and budgetary matters. She also headed the Parliament’s Policy Department providing expertise in the area of Justice, Civil Liberties, and Institutional Affairs.
Amelie has extensive experience working on international trade and EU Single Market issues and has been actively engaged in fostering transatlantic relationship for many years. Earlier, she worked as a trainee attorney at the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York City, where she was a member of the Legal Service team, handling collection services and legal queries, particularly in the areas of U.S. customs and tax law.
She completed her legal education in Germany, qualifying her as a fully licensed lawyer. Her legal expertise encompasses German civil law, criminal law, and public law. Amelie holds a Master’s degree in European and International Law, with a focus on EU Competition Law and International Public and Private Law, from the Université de Toulouse in France. She is fluent in German, English, French, and Spanish. Amelie is an alumni of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | Harmony or Dissonance? Culture as a Transatlantic Bridge | WEXNER 436

Angela Rodel holds a BA from Yale University in linguistics and two MAs from UCLA in linguistics and ethnomusicology. She is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, who first came to Bulgaria in 1996 to Bulgarian language and folk music. Since relocating permanently to Bulgaria in 2005, Angela has performed in various musical projects and has also become a prominent literary translator from Bulgarian to English, with nearly a dozen books published in the US and UK, and has received NEA and PEN awards. Her translation of Georgi Gosopodinov’s novel Time Shelter won the 2023 International Booker Prize. Since 2015 she has served as executive director of the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | From Periphery to Frontline: Rethinking Security in the Arctic | NYE AUDITORIUM

Annegrethe Rasmussen is editor in chief and US correspondent and a co founder of POV International, a role she has held since 2016. She is the co author of USA’s Udfordringer, the most widely used Danish high school textbook on the United States.
She also works as an advisor, helping Danish companies navigate the United States through strategy, analysis, network building, and communications, from the East Coast to Silicon Valley. In addition, she is a public speaker, chair, moderator and serves as a board member of the Nordic Press Centre.

From 1992 to 2015, Rasmussen held a range of senior journalistic positions, including political editor at Weekendavisen, editor in chief of Berlingske Sunday, and correspondent in London, Paris, and Washington for Information. She was also an analyst on European affairs as well as British and French politics for Danish television and radio. During this period, she undertook various freelance assignments for the European Commission, the Danish Foreign Ministry, and leading Danish women’s magazines.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | From Periphery to Frontline: Rethinking Security in the Arctic | NYE AUDITORIUM
Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Europe’s Role in a Multipolar World Order | JFK JR. FORUM

Anniken Huitfeldt is Norway’s Ambassador to the United States.
She has a long history of public service, most recently serving as Foreign Minister from 2021 to 2023. She has also held three Cabinet positions with Jens Stoltenberg’s Government. She has a longstanding career in the Norwegian Parliament, where she led its Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense for eight years.

She calls Jessheim, a town close to Oslo, home. As a young adult, she studied at the University of Oslo and the London School of Economics, and she later achieved a master’s degree in foreign policy. She also worked as a researcher for five years.
“I am delighted to be starting this new chapter as Norway’s Ambassador to the U.S.,” says Ambassador Designate Huitfeldt. “The United States is Norway’s most important ally, and we have such a special relationship. I look forward to getting to work and continuing to strengthen our ties, as well as traveling and meeting people all over the country.”

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Europe’s Global Role: Taking the Lead in International Development | TAUBMAN G50

Antón Leis García is Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). He has extensive experience in the field of international development cooperation and multilateral affairs, both in international organisations and in the Spanish Government.
Previously, he held various positions in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), worked as Senior Advisor in the General Secretariat for International Affairs, European Union, G20 and Global Security of the Cabinet of the President of the Spanish Government, and was Advisor to the Secretary of State for International Cooperation.
As a professional dedicated to development, he specialised in economic governance, competitiveness, and the private sector. He worked at the African Development Bank as a Senior Governance and Private Sector Specialist in Tunisia and Ivory Coast after joining its Young Professionals Program, and as a Legal Advisor at the World Bank, covering the Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean regions from the Washington DC headquarters.

He holds a Law Degree from the Carlos III University of Madrid, a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School and a dual Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris).

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Can Smarter Regulation or Deeper Integration Drive Europe’s Competitiveness?| WEXNER 436

Dr. Antonios Nestoras is Founder and CEO of the European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC), a Brussels-based think tank focused on industrial strategy, technology policy, and geopolitics. With almost two decades of experience across academia, think tanks, and European public administration, his work examines how regulation, institutional design, and technological capacity shape Europe’s competitiveness and role in a shifting global order.

His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, think-tank reports, and leading international media including the Financial Times, Politico, and Euronews, as well as many European national media. He is Chief Editor of the Future Europe Journal and Editor of the Draghi Observatory & Implementation Index. His forthcoming book, The Shape of Europe, explores the geographical roots of European division and Europe’s long search for political order and unity.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Rearming Europe: The Dilemma of European Strategic Autonomy| NYE AUDITORIUM

Dr Benedetta Berti is the Secretary General of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly since October 2025.

The Secretary General leads the Assembly’s Secretariat as senior executive officer and principal strategic advisor to the Assembly’s political leadership, with responsibility for the Assembly’s activities and policy work, as well as for representing the Assembly externally.

Dr Berti previously served as Director of Policy Planning in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO (2018-2025). She is Associate Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

An Eisenhower Global Fellow and a TED Senior Fellow, Dr Berti has, in the past decade, held research and teaching positions at West Point, The Institute for National Security Studies, and Tel Aviv University, among others.

Dr Berti is the author of four books, including Armed Political Organizations: from Conflict to Integration (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013). Her work and research have notably appeared, in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times; as well as in Civil Wars, Democratization, Government & Opposition, Mediterranean Politics, The Middle East Journal, Parameters, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence.

She holds a BA in Oriental Studies from the University of Bologna, and an MA and PhD in International Relations from The Fletcher School (Tufts University).

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | Security First or Leadership First? Europe’s Strategic Energy Crossroads | TAUBMAN G50

Bernard Gustin became CEO of Elia Group on January 15, 2025 after having been Chairman of the Board of Elia Group, Elia Transmission Belgium, and Elia Assets since 2017. His other roles include Executive Chairman of Lineas (present), operating advisor to DWS Infrastructure Fund (Chairman of InfraMobility, Vice Chairman of Charleroi Airport), and CEO of Brussels Airlines (2008–2018). Earlier, he was a partner at Arthur D. Little. Born in 1968, he holds degrees from ICHEC, including in international comparative management from Loyola College Maryland, and an MBA from Solvay Business School.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Recommitting to the Alliance: Does Transatlanticism Still Serve U.S. and European Interests in a Fragmented World? | STARR AUDITORIUM

Brando Benifei is an Italian MEP serving his third term in the European parliament. During the previous mandate he was co-Rapporteur for the Artificial Intelligence Act and thanks to this work in March 2024 he won the prize for the Best MEP of the Mandate assigned by The Parliament Magazine.
Now he is Coordinator in the Committee on International Trade for the Socialists and Democrats Group and Chair of the European Parliament’s D-US delegation. He is member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and he works also as substitute member on the EU internal market and consumer protection and on legal affairs, always following closely digital issues.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | From Periphery to Frontline: Rethinking Security in the Arctic | NYE AUDITORIUM
Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Recommitting to the Alliance: Does Transatlanticism Still Serve U.S. and European Interests in a Fragmented World? | STARR AUDITORIUM

Carla Sands serves as Chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative and Distinguished Senior Fellow for Energy Policy at America First Policy Institute. She was appointed to President Trump’s Economic Advisory Council and served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands from 2017-2021. 

During her tenure, she and her team increased U.S. exports to Denmark by 45% from $2.17 billion to $3.94 billion according to MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity. Ambassador Sands’ top priority was to strengthen U.S. national security by establishing a consulate in Greenland. Through close collaboration with interagency partners and Congress, this goal was successfully achieved in 2020. She also executed strategic trade and cooperation agreements with Greenland and the Faroe Islands to counter malign Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic. In recognition of her service, Ambassador Sands was awarded the Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor, the Medal for Distinguished Public Service, in 2021.

Prior to her appointment as U.S. Ambassador, Carla served as Chairman and CEO of Vintage Capital Group and its subsidiary Vintage Real Estate.

Carla currently serves as Chairman of The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Advisory Council and sits on the board of the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy and Independent Women’s Forum.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Can Smarter Regulation or Deeper Integration Drive Europe’s Competitiveness?| WEXNER 436

Cary Coglianese, the Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science and the founding Director of the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania, specializes in the study of administrative law and regulatory policy, with an emphasis on the design and evaluation of alternative processes and strategies and the role of public participation, technology, and business-government relations in policymaking.
The author of more than 300 articles, book chapters, reports, and essays on a broad range of administrative law and regulatory policy issues, Coglianese served as a founding editor of the international peer-reviewed journal, Regulation & Governance. He also founded and serves as the faculty advisor of The Regulatory Review, a global online publication that covers a full range regulatory law and policy issues. He previously served as the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania’s law school
Prior to joining the Penn faculty, he spent a dozen years on the faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where he founded and chaired the school’s Regulatory Policy Program and was an affiliated scholar at the Harvard Law School. He also has served as a visiting law professor at Stanford University and Vanderbilt University.
He has chaired and served on National Academy of Sciences committees as well as committees of the American Bar Association’s Section on Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy. A Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), Coglianese has served as an appointed Public Member of ACUS and as the chair of ACUS’s Rulemaking Committee. He is a member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Coglianese teaches courses in administrative law, environmental law, regulatory law and policy, and policy analysis. In addition, he serves as the faculty director for and teaches in an executive education program on regulatory analysis and decision-making

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Mobilizing Capital and Financing European Innovators | STARR AUDITORIUM

Clara got her degree in telecommunication engineering at Politecnico di Milano. She joined Eni in 2002, where she started her career as an R&D geophysicist, working on the development of innovative technologies for subsurface exploration. She then covered several managerial positions in the exploration function; among them: West Africa Area Manager, Head of Technical Assurance, Digital Transformation partner, Head of subsurface data management.
Before becoming CEO of Eni Next, she was head of Business Support Services and Transformation Program Director of the Eni’s Natural Resource General Direction.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Trade, Investment, and Power: Europe’s Economic Strategy in Emerging Markets | STARR AUDITORIUM

Cristián Rodríguez-Chiffelle, LL.M, is Partner and Director at Boston Consulting Group in Geneva, Switzerland, specializing in trade, foreign direct investment, and geopolitics. Before joining BCG, he was a resident visiting scholar at Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Previously, he served as CEO of InvestChile – a ministerial-level appointment leading the Nation’s foreign investment promotion agency – and priorly led international trade and investment policy at the World Economic Forum and Davos for five years. As a trade diplomat, he negotiated Chile’s free trade agreements – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – and represented Chile before international organizations including WTO, OECD, APEC and UN bodies. He holds an LL.B from the University of Concepción (Chile), an LL.M from Harvard Law School, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MA in Global Leadership from the World Economic Forum and INSEAD. Cristian is the co-editor of “The Elgar Companion to the World Trade Organization” (Edward Elgar, 2024), a 50-chapter effort distilling current affairs affecting international trade with a focus on facilitation, digitalization, and geopolitical tensions.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Can Smarter Regulation or Deeper Integration Drive Europe’s Competitiveness?| WEXNER 436

Damian Boeselager is a Member of the European Parliament and co-founder of Volt Europa, the first pan-European movement fighting for a united and democratic Europe. Elected in 2019 as Volt’s very first MEP and joined in 2024 by four more colleagues, he’s been pushing for bold EU reforms on everything from migration to digital policy. Damian started Volt with friends after seeing Trump, Brexit, and the far right on the rise — determined to prove that young people can change politics across borders. Today, he’s working to make the EU stronger, fairer, and future-ready — and he’s inviting a new generation to help shape it.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Recommitting to the Alliance: Does Transatlanticism Still Serve U.S. and European Interests in a Fragmented World? | STARR AUDITORIUM

In the course of his forty-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Fried played a key role in designing and implementing American policy in Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. As special assistant and NSC senior director for Presidents Clinton and Bush, ambassador to Poland, and assistant secretary of state for Europe (2005-09), Ambassador Fried crafted the policy of NATO enlargement to Central European nations and, in parallel, NATO-Russia relations, thus advancing the goal of Europe whole, free, and at peace. During those years, the West’s community of democracy and security grew in Europe. Ambassador Fried helped lead the West’s response to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine starting in 2014: as State Department coordinator for sanctions policy, he crafted US sanctions against Russia, the largest US sanctions program to date, and negotiated the imposition of similar sanctions by Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

Ambassador Fried became one of the US government’s foremost experts on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. While a student, he lived in Moscow, majored in Soviet studies and history at Cornell University (BA magna cum laude 1975), and received an MA from Columbia’s Russian Institute and School of International Affairs in 1977. He joined the US Foreign Service later that year, serving overseas in Leningrad (human rights, Baltic affairs, and consular officer), and Belgrade (political officer), and in the Office of Soviet Affairs in the State Department.

As Polish desk officer in the late 1980s, Fried was one of the first in Washington to recognize the impending collapse of Communism in Poland, and helped develop the immediate response of the George H.W. Bush Administration to these developments. As political counselor at the US Embassy in Warsaw (1990-93), Fried witnessed Poland’s difficult but ultimately successful free market, democratic transformation, working with successive Polish governments.

Ambassador Fried also served as the State Department’s first special envoy for the closure of the Guantanamo (GTMO) Detainee Facility. He established procedures for the transfer of individual detainees and negotiated the transfers of seventy detainees to twenty countries, with improved security outcomes.

Dan Fried has been married to Olga Karpiw since 1979; they have two children (Hannah and Sophie), and are the besotted grandparents of Ava Helen Fried Hanley.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Europe’s Role in a Multipolar World Order | JFK JR. FORUM

Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer is member of the Executive Board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and a leading expert on European and international affairs. She is honorary professor of political science at Freie Universität Berlin and senior fellow at Harvard University. Since 2025, Daniela Schwarzer has been serving as the honorary president of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and as co-chair of the German-Japanese Forum. She previously served as Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia at the Open Society Foundations, as director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations, and as head of the Europe research group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. She is a member of the supervisory boards of BNP Paribas and Covivio, a honorary board member of DGAP and non-executive board member of the Jacques Delors Institute/Centre (Paris/Berlin) and a Council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | Harmony or Dissonance? Culture as a Transatlantic Bridge | WEXNER 436

Daria Kolomiec is a Ukrainian activist, producer, performer, and the creator of the documentary-theater project Diary of War with over 15 years of experience in television, radio, and live performance as a DJ and music curator.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Daria collected 41 personal diaries from Ukrainians at war as voice messages. While sheltering in Kyiv, she edited and released them as the Diary of War podcast. Since then, the project evolved into staged readings presented to international audiences in collaboration with theaters across the U.S. and Europe.
Project’s performances have sold out venues in New York and D.C., featuring actors from TV, film, and Broadway. Through these events, Daria has raised over $150,000 for Ukrainian volunteer and humanitarian initiatives. Time magazine recognized her as one of its Next Generation Leaders. Central to Daria’s work is the amplification of Ukrainian women’s voices and leadership in resisting Russian aggression, from the front lines to humanitarian and cultural advocacy worldwide.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Mobilizing Capital and Financing European Innovators | STARR AUDITORIUM

Born in Rome on August 18, 1967, and graduated with honours in Economics at Luiss University in Rome, Dario Scannapieco started his career in Telecom Italia in 1992, in the Strategic Planning and Control Department and subsequently (1997) obtained a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. From 1997 to 2002 he was a member of the Council of Experts of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, with the role of advisor to the Director General of the Treasury Department and from 2002 to 2007, he was Director General of the Finance and Privatization Department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. From 2007 to May 2021, Dario Scannapieco was Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and, from 2012 to May 2021, he was also the President of the European Investment Fund (EIF).
Since May 2021 he is the Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Italian national promotional bank, and from July 2021 he is the Chief Executive Officer of CDP Reti. Since 2021 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Assonime and a member of the Advisory Board of the B20. During his professional experience, he has also been a member of various BoDs and international commissions, including, since 2014, the Executive Board of Save the Children Italy ETS. Since July 2023 he is the President of the European Long-Term Investors Association (ELTIa), the association that brings together the 32 main National Promotional Institutions and European Financial Institutions, including the European Investment Bank.
He is the author of various publications on privatizations and infrastructure financing and periodically gives lectures on corporate governance and infrastructure financing.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Recommitting to the Alliance: Does Transatlanticism Still Serve U.S. and European Interests in a Fragmented World? | STARR AUDITORIUM

Ditmir Bushati is a Fellow at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs of Harvard University. He served as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania (2013-2019). Bushati was a Member of Parliament of Albania from 2009 to 2021. He was the chair of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration and the head of OSCE parliamentary delegation of Albania. He ran OSCE-ODIHR elections observation missions in Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Moldova, Belarus. Bushati was a Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for South Caucasus (2020-2021). He served as a Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairperson in Office (2020). Bushati runs “Public Square” podcast on YouTube, offering analysis and insights for the most pressing issues and developments in the region and the world.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Turning Europe into a Research Powerhouse | WEXNER 436

Eleni Diamanti is CNRS research director at the LIP6 laboratory of Sorbonne University in Paris. She received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2006 and was a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Optics Graduate School in Palaiseau before joining the CNRS in 2009. Her research focuses on experimental quantum cryptography and communication, and on the development of photonic resources and applications for quantum networks. She is a recipient of a European Research Council Starting Grant, director of the Paris Centre for Quantum Technologies, and was awarded the CNRS Silver and Innovation Medals in 2024. She also serves as vice chair of the European Quantum Technologies Flagship Strategic Advisory Board and is cofounder and scientific advisor of the start-up company Welinq that specializes in quantum interconnect technology.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | A Career in European Institutions | WEXNER 330

Francesco Maria joined the EU Delegation in Washington DC in November 2023 as the Counsellor for Energy and Climate.
Prior to his current posting in the U.S., he was Policy Assistant to the Director General at the
European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy in Brussels. He also held the position of Legal Officer for Renewables and Energy System Integration Policy at the European Commission.
Francesco Maria holds an LL.M. in International Trade Law from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Master’s Degree in Public Law from Luiss – Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali in Rome. He also studied in Helsinki, Finland through the ERASMUS programme. He carried out legal private practice in international law firms as a qualified attorney in New York and Italy before joining the European Commission.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Rearming Europe: The Dilemma of European Strategic Autonomy | NYE AUDITORIUM

Frank Hoffmeister holds a PhD from the University of Heidelberg (1998) and served as academic assistant at the Walter Hallstein-Institute for European Constitutional Law from 1998 until 2001. He then joined the European Commission where he worked first in the Cyprus Unit in DG Enlargement before becoming a member of the Commission Legal Service (external relations and institutional team). From 2010 to 2014 he acted as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht, and as of 2015 he was Head of Unit dealing with anti-dumping at DG Trade. He joined the European External Action Service in November 2021 as Director of the Legal Department. He teaches EU external relations law at the Free University of Brussels and has written extensively on EU and international law matters. He edited (together with J Wouters, G Debaere and T Ramopoulos) The Law of EU External Relations – Cases, Materials and Commentary on the EU as an International Legal Actor (Oxford, OUP, third edition 2021).

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | A Career in European Institutions | WEXNER 330

Helena Malikova is a European Union civil servant with the European competition watchdog the Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) at the European Commission in Brussels. Helena is attached to the directorate investigating foreign subsidies flowing into the European economy. She is currently leading the directorate’s work on intelligence gathering and investigations and is researching the valuation of strategic M&A facilitated by foreign governments. Helena was previously a member of the Chief Economist Team at DG COMP advocating for greater use of financial and business data in antitrust economics. Prior to that role, Helena led the investigation under European State aid rules into the tax planning practices of multinational corporations including those of Big Tech firms. During the financial crisis, Helena was part of the European Commission’s Financial Crisis Task Force where she helped assess the bailout and restructuring of numerous European banks. She subsequently worked on a number of Covid-19 related state-bailout cases including in the aviation sector and helped analyse financing needs resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.

Helena practices competition policy across the broad spectrum of European antitrust enforcement. She has been called upon to lead and participate in unannounced inspections, or raids, of corporate premises in sectors from e-books to pharmaceuticals. In addition, she has published on the geopolitics of artificial intelligence and conflicts of interest among antitrust economists, academics and economic consultancies advising on regulation. Helena started her career with Société Générale and Credit Suisse as a Foreign Exchange (FX) sales trader, and she is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). She earned her Masters in Economics from the College of Europe in Bruges. Helena has previously been an EU Fellow at UC Berkeley, and she is a fellow at Centre for Digital Governance at the Hertie School, Berlin.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Europe’s Global Role: Taking the Lead in International Development | TAUBMAN G50
Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM

Hilde Vautmans (Renew Europe, Open Vld Belgium) is a liberal Belgian Member of the European Parliament. Hilde is the Chair of the Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly and the vice-chair of the delegation to the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. She further is a member of the Conference of Delegation Chairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Delegation for relations with the United States and a substitute for the Committee on Security and Defence, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and the Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China. Ms Vautmans holds degrees in social science and criminology and held various positions in local and national politics before entering the European Parliament in 2015.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Rearming Europe: The Dilemma of European Strategic Autonomy| NYE AUDITORIUM

Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder is a leading expert and commentator on international affairs, geopolitics, and geoeconomics. He served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, on the U.S. National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, and is currently a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center. He served as President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs from 2013-2025.

Ambassador Daalder was a senior advisor on nonproliferation policy to Senator Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign and served as the National Security Council and nonproliferation lead on the Obama-Biden transition team. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Action Council and Geopolitical Advisory Council and served as a member on the OSCE Panel of Eminent Persons on the future of European Security. He is a geopolitical consultant to global businesses and financial institutions, and has worked at leading think tanks around the world, including the Brookings Institution and Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, and the International Institute on Strategic Studies in London.

Ambassador Daalder is a widely published author of more than a dozen books on American foreign policy, European security, national security affairs and policy making. His most recent book is The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership (2018) and his forthcoming book is After The Fall: An American Strategy for a Post-Trumpian World (both with James M. Lindsay).

He is a frequent commentator on television and radio on current events and has written for the leading newspapers around the world. He writes the bi-monthly “From Across the Pond” commentary for Politico Europe and the “America Abroad” newsletter on Substack. His weekly podcast, “World Review with Ivo Daalder,” features leading journalists from around the world to discuss the week’s global affairs news. 

Ivo Daalder was educated at the Universities of Kent and Oxford, Georgetown University, and received his PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Kent. For his service as US Ambassador to NATO, Daalder was honored by the governments of Germany, Latvia, and Estonia, and received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. He was born in the Hague (the Netherlands) and is married to Elisa D. Harris. They live in Chicago.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Turning Europe into a Research Powerhouse | WEXNER 436

Jacob Sten Petersen has been Senior Vice President as Head of Global Nucleic Acid Therapies since 2023, responsible for RNAi modality and gene editing modality platform. He joined the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S in 2021.
Mr. Petersen joined Novo Nordisk in 2001 as CVP for Global Research Metabolic Diseases and Adjunct Professor. In 2006, he was awarded the Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) degree from the medical faculty of Copenhagen University, Denmark, and from 2010-2022, he was a professor of biomedicine at the medical faculty of Copenhagen University.

Besides numerous presentations at international diabetes conferences, he has published approximately 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals, mainly on topics of diabetes prediction, prevention, and intervention but also on beta cell biology, physiology, and immunology. 

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Jakub Kalenský is the Deputy Director of the Centre’s Hybrid Influence COI, focusing on disinformation and efforts to counter this threat. He joined the Centre of Excellence in 2022. Jakub has specialised in disinformation and Russian hybrid activities since 2015, when he joined the newly created East StratCom Task Force within the European Union’s diplomatic service, the EEAS. In the team, Jakub was responsible for raising awareness about Russia’s disinformation campaigns, and he and his colleagues founded the EUvsDisinfo campaign. Between 2018 and 2021, Jakub worked in the Atlantic Council’s Ukrainian Election Task Force and in the Digital Forensic Research Lab. He authored reports and articles on Russian disinformation attacks and the countermeasures against them, and testified in the European Parliament, the US Congress, and other legislative bodies in Europe on the same topic. Since 2024, Jakub has been a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin). Before specialising in countering disinformation, Jakub worked as a journalist in the Czech Republic.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | Harmony or Dissonance? Culture as a Transatlantic Bridge | WEXNER 436

Jeneé Osterheldt is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. Her work centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. She is also the creator of A Beautiful Resistance, a multimedia platform and docuseries for The Boston Globe that centers Black voices and celebrates Black Joy.
The work is both joy and justice. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. Other times it means arts, joy, and space-making. It always means Black lives matter.
Beyond writing and film, her work comes to life on stage and screen as she moderates conversations with thought leaders and culture makers like Ghetto Gastro, Taraji P. Henson, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
In 2023, she was named deputy managing editor of talent, culture, and development, making her the second Black woman to ever grace the masthead. More recently, the City of Boston honored her work with a day in its honor: As of 2025 going forward, Nov. 21 is A Beautiful Resistance Day in our city.
She joined the Globe in 2018. She was the 2023 chair of the Pulitzer jury for criticism, 2023 ONA winner for Commentary, 2022 YW Boston Women Achiever, a 2022 Murrow Award winner, a 2021 News Leader Association winner, and a 2021 Most Influential Bostonian.She opened for ABC/Hulu’s “Soul of a Nation” three times. She is a 2024 New England Regional Emmy Award winner.
A native of Alexandria, Va. and a proud graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Europe’s Role in a Multipolar World Order | JFK JR. FORUM

Jovita Neliupšienė is a Lithuanian diplomat and scholar specializing in European and foreign policy. She holds degrees in international relations, diplomacy, and law, and earned a PhD from Vilnius University, where she has also taught at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science.
She served as Chief Adviser to the President of Lithuania on foreign policy and later as Lithuanian Ambassador to the European Union from 2015 to 2020. Her career includes roles in the Seimas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Lithuanian Embassy in Belarus.
She has been directly involved in European Council coordination and EU foreign policy at the highest levels.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Mobilizing Capital and Financing European Innovators | STARR AUDITORIUM

Karel Lannoo has been Chief Executive of CEPS since 2000, Europe’s leading independent European think tank, ranked among the top ten think tanks in the world. He manages a staff of 80 people.
Karel was an Independent Director of BME (Bolsas y Mercados Españolas), the listed company that manages the Spanish securities markets (2006-18).
He published several books on capital markets, MiFID, and the financial crisis. He is the author of many op-eds and articles published by CEPS or in international newspapers and reviews. Karel is a regular speaker in hearings for national and international institutions (the European Commission, European Parliament, etc.) and at international gatherings.

Karel Lannoo holds a baccalaureate in Philosophy (1984) and an MA in Modern History (1985) from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in European studies (Centre d’Etudes européennes, CEE) from the University of Nancy, France (1986).

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Trade, Investment, and Power: Europe’s Economic Strategy in Emerging Markets | STARR AUDITORIUM

Ms Liesje Schreinemacher has been Deputy Secretary-General of the Benelux Union since January 2026. From 2022 to 2024 she served as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Dutch government. Prior to that, Schreinemacher was a Member of the European Parliament working on Trade related issues and regulations concerning the Internal Market, while also serving as a member of the delegations to the United States and the United Kingdom. Earlier in her career, she worked as an attorney at law in public procurement law and political adviser to the Minister of Defense.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | Security First or Leadership First? Europe’s Strategic Energy Crossroads | TAUBMAN G50

Marco Margheri is the Head of Eni’s US Relations and Chairman of Eni New Energies US Inc. He oversees relations with US Authorities, US-based IFIs, and multilateral processes of interest for the company. Marco is also serving as Board Member for the Atlantic Council, and as the Chair for Italy of WEC – World Energy Council. Prior to joining Eni, he was Italy’s Edison Executive Vice-President for Sustainability, Institutions & Regulation overseeing activities in Rome and Brussels, and held positions with GE Oil & Gas and Cohn Wolfe. Marco is also a visiting professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, a member of the Italian press and an Honorary Member of the Milano per la Scala Foundation in Milan.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Turning Europe into a Research Powerhouse | WEXNER 436

Maria Leptin is a developmental biologist and geneticist who is the President of the European Research Council (ERC).
After her studies in mathematics and biology, Maria Leptin carried out her PhD research at the Basel Institute for Immunology. She then moved to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, became a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, and professor at the Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne.
Before her appointment as ERC President, Leptin was the Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) in Heidelberg and a research group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. She is an elected member of numerous scientific academies and an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Society and an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Trade, Investment, and Power: Europe’s Economic Strategy in Emerging Markets | STARR AUDITORIUM

Marion Jansen is the Director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD), having been appointed in September 2020. She oversees the implementation of the OECD’s work on international trade, agriculture and fisheries and its contributions to relevant G20, G7 and APEC tracks, and other relevant international forums like the WTO and FAO.
Before joining the OECD, Marion Jansen was Chief Economist at the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva. Prior to this, she held senior research positions in the World Trade Organization and headed the Trade and Employment Programme at the International Labour Organization.
Marion Jansen has published widely on international trade and global governance and has lectured in multiple academic institutions, including the University of Geneva and the World Trade Institute. She is member of the Board of the Centre d’études prospectives et d’informations internationales (CEPII) in Paris, the Advisory Board of the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern, the Advisory Board of the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (University of Sussex), and of the Advisory Board of the MSc IB at SKEMA Business School in Paris.
A German national, Marion Jansen holds a Doctorate Degree in International Economics from the Pompeu Fabra University (Spain) and undergraduate degrees in economics from the University of Konstanz (Germany), the University of Passau (Germany) and the University of Toulouse (France).

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Forecasting Europe’s Strategic Future – Nuclear Risk, Baltic Security, and Europe’s Indo-Pacific Ties – Bertelsmann Foundation | WEXNER 330

Marshall Reid joined the Bertelsmann Foundation in 2024 as Senior Manager of US-EU-Asia Dynamics. At BFNA, Marshall works on RANGE, Bertelsmann’s transatlantic forecasting platform. He also conducts research on linkages between the United States, Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Prior to joining BFNA, he worked with the Global Taiwan Institute, where he managed a variety of programs related to Taiwan and its place in the world. He has also held positions at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and is a Pacific Forum Young Leader. Marshall received an M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where he focused on U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific. He graduated with a B.A. in International Relations and History from Rhodes College. He is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Turning Europe into a Research Powerhouse | WEXNER 436

Professor Miklós Szócska graduated at the Semmelweis University (SU) of Medicine in 1989. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the SU in the change management.
He initiated the creation of the Health Services Management Training Centre where he at present serves as director. 2019-2025 he was Dean of the Faculty of Health and Public Administration at Semmelweis University. 2010-2014 Dr. Szócska served as the Minister of State for Health of the Hungarian Government. In 2016 he was nominated by the Hungarian Government for the DG position of the WHO. Since 2021 he is a member if the Sustainability Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Since 2022 he has also been Head of Data-Driven Health Division of National Laboratory for Health Security.
For the 2024/25 and the 2025/26 academic years, he was appointed as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.
Since 2025 he has been a Special Advisor to the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | A Career in European Institutions | WEXNER 330

Nera Kuljanic works at the European Parliament’s office in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on strengthening EU and US parliamentary ties. Previously, she spent ten years at the European Parliamentary Research Service in Brussels where she contributed to better law making in the EU through impact assessment of new and emerging technologies, and scientific foresight. Her academic background is in food science, nutrition and public health, with Master’s degree from Ghent University, Belgium. She has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Born 11 May 1985 is a Polish politician, sitting as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He is the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament and has been vice-president of the Law and Justice party since 2024.  
He was previously a member of the Sejm in the VII and VIII terms (2011–2019). He served as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice (2015–2019) and is the vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Eastern Partnership – Euronest (since 2019).

Education
Patryk Jaki graduated from the University of Wrocław and obtained a master’s degree in political science in 2010. He also completed the ARGO Top Public Executive program organized by the National School of Public Administration in collaboration with IESE Business School in Barcelona (2018) and training at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. In 2019, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of National Security of the War Studies University. 

Political career
In 2003, he joined the Young Forum of Law and Justice and later served as a marketing specialist at the International School of Logistics and Transport. He published in the “Logistyka” journal. His political roles include being a member of the Opole Voivode’s political cabinet, assistant to MEP Ryszard Legutko, and membership in Opole’s “Gazeta Polska” club. He was also vice-president of the “Stop Corruption” Association.
In 2006, he joined the Civic Platform party briefly before returning to Law and Justice. He completed his political science studies at the University of Wrocław in 2009. Re-elected in 2010, he became chairman of the Law and Justice councillors’ club.
Notably, he expanded Opole’s boundaries in 2016, despite significant local opposition, and oversaw the establishment of the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners.
Appointed Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice in November 2015, he supervised the Prison Service and led efforts like the Electronic Monitoring System implementation. He drafted laws to protect parental custody rights and chaired initiatives including the Verification Committee for Reprivatisation.
He introduced Poland’s registry of sex offenders in 2017 and launched a successful prisoner employment program. Currently, he chairs the Polish Council of Penitentiary Policy and is known for his stance against Islamization.
In October 11, he received the “Polski Kompas” award for combating reprivatisation corruption.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Europe’s Role in a Multipolar World Order | JFK JR. FORUM

Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the author of several books, including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013) which won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature, and was named a Book of the Year in the Financial Times and Economist. His latest book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (Harvard, 2020). His writing on contemporary China has appeared recently in Foreign Affairs, the Harvard Business Review, The Spectator, The Critic, and The Guardian.  He has commented regularly on China in media and forums around the world, including at the World Economic Forum at Davos. His recent documentary on contemporary Chinese politics “Meanwhile in Beijing” is available on BBC Sounds.  He is co-author, with Sophia Gaston, of the report “Conceptualizing a UK-China Engagement Strategy” (British Foreign Policy Group, 2020). He won the 2020 Medlicott Medal for Service to History, awarded by the UK Historical Association.  He previously taught at Oxford, and is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Europe’s Global Role: Taking the Lead in International Development | TAUBMAN G50

Roland Siller has been CEO of DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH since 15 July 2021. He previously was a Member of the Management Committee at KfW Development Bank since 2012, in charge of Strategy, Policy and Latin America since 2019. Siller holds a master degree in business administration and political science from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany) and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Strasbourg (France) and completed the Postgraduate Programme of the German Development Institute (DIE). He began his career at KfW in 1993. For two years he was seconded to the French Development Bank AfD. Since 2000 he has held various management positions at KfW Development Bank. Parallel to this he attended the Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School.
DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH
DEG, a subsidiary of KfW, finances investments of private companies in developing and emerging-market countries. As one of Europe’s largest development finance institutions, it promotes private business structures to contribute to sustainable economic growth and improved living conditions.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Rearming Europe: The Dilemma of European Strategic Autonomy | NYE AUDITORIUM

After studying law and political science at Saarland University and at Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III, Theis passed his state examination in law and his bar exam both with distinction. Theis worked as a lawyer at Landesbank Saar and served as a lecturer at Saarland University, the Université de Lorraine in Nancy the Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas and has been teaching at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).
Roland Theis is married and has two children. He has both german and french nationality.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | Harmony or Dissonance? Culture as a Transatlantic Bridge | WEXNER 436

Appointed Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in 2022, Tamara Rojo is the first woman to lead the company and only its fifth Artistic Director since the company was founded in 1933. At SF Ballet, she has already commissioned three world premieres, added new works to the repertoire, instituted choreographic and professional development opportunities for the Company, expanded audiences, and secured a transformational $60 million gift. Before coming to San Francisco, Rojo served as Artistic Director and Lead Principal of London’s English National Ballet (ENB) for nine and a half years, where she brought groundbreaking programming, garnered the company critical accolades, and spearheaded a successful £50-million capital campaign to create a new headquarters for the company that opened in 2019. Raised in Madrid, Rojo received her bachelor’s degree in Dance/Choreography at the Real Conservatorio de Danza Mariemma and received a Master’s in Theatrical Arts, as well as a doctorate from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid.

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Strategic Tech Sovereignty: Europe’s Next Frontier | NYE AUDITORIUM

Thanos Dokos received his Ph.D. in International Relations from Cambridge University and has held research posts at the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt (1989-90) and the Center for Science and International Affairs (CSIA) at Harvard University (1990-91). He served as the Director for Research, Strategic Studies Division, Hellenic Ministry of National Defence (1996-98) and as an Advisor on NATO issues to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-1999). He was also a NATO research fellow for 1996-98. He was the Director of Research (1999-2006) and then the Director-General of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) [2006-2019]. He has taught at the Universities of Athens and Piraeus, the Hellenic National Defence College, the Diplomatic Academy and the Hellenic National Security Academy. Since October 2020, he is the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece. In October 2023, he was appointed by the Secretary General of NATO to the Expert Group in support of the comprehensive and deep reflection on NATO’s southern neighbourhood.

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Strategic Tech Sovereignty: Europe’s Next Frontier | NYE AUDITORIUM

Prof. Tommaso Calarco is considered one of the leading quantum physicists today. At least as important is his role as an instigator and as someone who brings others together. He is one of the founding fathers of the European Quantum Manifesto, which led to the billion-euro EU Quantum Flagship programme. Within the programme, he leads the Quantum Community Network, which brings together theorists and experimental groups as well as science and industry. He was also instrumental in founding “EIN Quantum NRW”, the quantum computing network for science and industry in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Can Smarter Regulation or Deeper Integration Drive Europe’s Competitiveness?| WEXNER 436

Victoria de Posson is currently the Secretary General of the European Tech Alliance (EUTA). EUTA brings together European-born technology companies operating across the EU Single Market and beyond. Its 36 members from 16 European countries are popular and have earned the trust of consumers.

Before joining EUTA, Victoria held a senior position in public policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and at FTI Consulting. She started her career at Samsung Electronics and the European Parliament. Victoria studied European Affairs at the College of Europe and International Relations at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve.

In addition to her work in tech policy, she is also involved in promoting gender equality in the digital sector.

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Strategic Tech Sovereignty: Europe’s Next Frontier | NYE AUDITORIUM

Co-founder and CEO of Farsight Vision, a company operating in the GIS systems domain within the defense sector. An experienced software product developer and business strategist with a strong analytical approach and a focus on long-term value. Many years of experience in building and scaling technology companies, as well as conducting negotiations and building high-performing teams.

My expertise covers product strategy, product marketing, quality management, and creating competitive differentiation in multicultural contexts. I am skilled at combining people, financial resources, and technology into effective solutions that ensure sustainable business growth.

I also have deep experience in the startup ecosystem and the venture capital environment, including fundraising, pitching, RFPs, and working with VC funds.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Mobilizing Capital and Financing European Innovators | STARR AUDITORIUM

A thirty-year career in international finance
Educated at the École Normale Supérieure, holding an agrégation in economics and social sciences, and a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, William Kadouch-Chassaing quickly turned to the private sector and finance. In the mid-1990s, he joined the prestigious American bank J.P. Morgan, first in Paris as a market economist, then soon after in London, where he joined the investment banking teams. As the sector was booming, William Kadouch-Chassaing participated in launching the bank’s Tech-Media-Telecom platform, which he helped develop for nearly ten years, supporting major mergers and acquisitions of the era, both in listed and unlisted markets. In 2007, he was recruited by Société Générale and joined the headquarters at La Défense in Paris. For five years, he covered multi-sector companies as a senior banker and contributed to the development of the advisory and financing franchise for large European corporations.

A business leader with expertise in strategic movements
In 2013, following the financial crises, he was appointed Director of Strategy and joined the Executive Committee. For five years, William Kadouch-Chassaing worked on a profound transformation of the banking group. He oversaw strategic divestitures and targeted acquisitions, as well as the development and strengthening of activities such as online banking (Boursorama) and transaction banking. During these years, he gained solid experience in asset management, supporting Lyxor in its growth and Amundi’s IPO—a company where he served as a board member for seven years. In 2018, he was appointed Deputy CEO, a role he combined with that of Chief Financial Officer. During this period, he played a key role in rebuilding a solid capital base and improving the bank’s profitability. These initiatives led to a historic profit for the bank in 2021.

Thoughtful leadership
At the helm of Eurazeo since February 2023, alongside Christophe Bavière, William Kadouch-Chassaing has initiated an ambitious roadmap for this leading European private markets manager. They have renewed, diversified, and internationalized the Management Committee and clarified Eurazeo’s strategy, presented at the Capital Market Day in November 2023. The ambition is to make Eurazeo the leading platform in its sector for European mid-market, growth, and impact markets, with the mission to build European champions with global ambitions. William Kadouch-Chassaing’s management style is modern, combining high standards and respect. Inspired by Henri Bergson’s philosophy—“Act like a man of thought, think like a man of action”—he favors leadership rooted in strategic reflection and humility, while remaining firmly focused on performance.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | Security First or Leadership First? Europe’s Strategic Energy Crossroads | TAUBMAN G50

With more than 2 decades at the forefront of sustainable finance, Zineb Bennani brings a deeply integrated European, U.S. and global perspective on how capital can drive transition toward a more resilient economy. She is CEO of Mirova US, leading the firm’s North American expansion for the past three years, after holding senior roles across sustainable research, portfolio management and global development at Mirova, a firm affiliated with Natixis Investment Managers. She brings a pragmatic, investor-led perspective on sustainable finance, informed by-long standing experience across European and U.S. markets, and a deep understanding of the structural differences shaping capital allocation at a global level.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Democracy in a Post-Truth World | STARR AUDITORIUM

Dr. Albana Shehaj is a political scientist, program manager, and lecturer at Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the Department of Continued Education. She specializes in international political economy and democratic governance. Her research focuses on corruption and accountability, distributive politics, and the effects of EU integration. Dr. Shehaj holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in International Relations and Methodology, and a B.A. in Political Science and Computer Science.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Can Smarter Regulation or Deeper Integration Drive Europe’s Competitiveness?| WEXNER 436

Dr. Amaryllis Verhoeven has a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. She worked as an attorney in private practice with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels and New York. She is currently working at the European Commission building Europe’s Single Market and seeking to harness the EU’s competitiveness. Alongside, she is also teaching at the Leuven Law School on economic regulation, rule of law and democracy. Dr. Verhoeven has written extensively on EU law and is a regular guest speaker at high level fora.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | Harmony or Dissonance? Culture as a Transatlantic Bridge | WEXNER 436

Carla recently serves the Biden Administration in a newly created role as Senior Advisor and Envoy for Cultural Exchange at the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Carla has been a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government since 2022, where and has led a co-curricular course for the Center for Public Leadership. She is also a Visiting Professor at the Korbel School of International Studies. Carla has served as a U.S. State Department Arts Envoy since 2005.

Carla has been a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities Turnaround Arts Program, was selected by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of its 100 Leading Global Thinkers and won the Medal of Excellence from the Sphinx Organization, which was presented to her at the Supreme Court by Justice Sotomayor. Carla was also named one of Musical America’s 30 Movers and Shapers of 2018. In each case, she was the first opera singer ever to receive the honor.

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Flagship Session – Luc Frieden | JFK JR. FORUM

Daniel Ziblatt is the Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He also leads a research group on democracy and democratic erosion at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in Germany.
He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (Crown, 2018), co-authored with Steve Levitsky, a New York Times best-seller and described by The Economist magazine as “the most important book of the Trump era.” The book has been translated into thirty languages. In 2017, he authored Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2017), an account of the history of democracy in Europe, which won the American Political Science Association’s 2018 Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in government and international relations and American Sociological Association’s 2018 Barrington Moore Prize. His first book was an analysis of 19th century state building, Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism(Princeton, 2006). In Fall 2023, his newest book entitled Tyranny of the Minority (co-authored with Steve Levitsky) puts America’s contemporary transition into a multiracial democracy in comparative and historical perspective, and shows the distinctive vulnerabilities of the U.S. constitutional order.
Ziblatt maintains an active research program that is published in journals such as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and World Politics. In 2023, he was elected member of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Flasgship Session – Sophie Wilmès | JFK JR. FORUM

Edoardo Campanella is an economist and author. He works as senior global economist at UniCredit Bank and he recently published with Marta Dassu’ Anglo Nostalgia: the Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West (Oxford University Press). He writes globally syndicated columns for Project Syndicate, and his writings have appeared, among the others, in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Survival and many other media outlets. Edoardo is also David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission, where he is co-directing the Taskforce on Global Capitalism in Transition — co-chaired by Carl Bildt (former Swedish PM), Kelly Grier (US Chair and Americas Managing Partner, Ernest & Young) and Takeshi Ninami (CEO of Suntory Group).
He previously worked for the economic research departments of the World Trade Organisation, the World Economic Forum and the Italian Senate. In 2016, he was a shortlisted author for the Bracken Bower Prize, awarded by the Financial Times and McKinsey to promising writers under the age of 35. He holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School that he attended on a Fulbright scholarship. While at Harvard, he was awarded the Certificate for Teaching Excellence for his teaching activity. He is also affiliated with ISPI, the Aspen Institute, the Centre for the Governance of Change of IE University in Madrid and the Council for Italy and the United States. During his M-RCBG senior fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School, Edoardo will work on the future of capitalism, studying, in particular, how three macro trends — the green transition, the digital revolution and rising inequalities — will affect the balance between the market and the state (project title: Reconceiving Capitalism in a Post-Pandemic World: Towards a New Global Order). His study will go beyond a monolithic view of capitalism, focusing on how different types of capitalism react to the same mega trends. His faculty sponsor is Robert Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment, Harvard Kennedy School.

Saturday February 7 | 4:30–5:45 | Flagship Session – Robert Habeck | JFK JR. FORUM

Elaine Papoulias is the executive director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University. She is responsible for the overall management and administration of the Center and its many grants and initiatives which promote the interdisciplinary understanding of European history, politics, economy and societies. She also oversees the Center’s strategic planning, development, and stewardship activities.
From 1999-2012, Papoulias served at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) as Director of the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, integrating this region into HKS academic and executive education programs, as well as co-curricular initiatives across the University. Under her leadership, the program became the school’s hallmark of Europe-focused activity and its regional model. Her academic and professional mentoring of students helped to support their success in building careers at high levels of government, international organizations, academia, civil society, and the private sector.

In addition to her career in academia, Papoulias’ professional experiences include advisory, public affairs, communications and analytical work for government agencies, political candidates, grassroots campaigns, non-profit institutions as well as private companies across a multitude of sectors. She received a BA from Wesleyan University and a MALD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She currently serves on the boards of College Year in Athens (Greece); Center for Openness and Dialogue (Albania); Intersection Centre for Science and Innovation (Serbia); and diaNEOsis (Greece). Her interests include democratization, politics, and development in Southeastern Europe. She speaks Greek fluently and has a working knowledge of Persian.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Trade, Investment, and Power: Europe’s Economic Strategy in Emerging Markets | STARR AUDITORIUM

Director, Trade and economic security programme, Jacques Delors Institute, and Rapporteur of the working group on EU-China relations. Expertise: geopolitics of trade, economic security, EU-US relations, EU-China relations, WTO reform.
Member of the board of CEPII (leading French center for research and expertise on the world economy), the Policy Advisory Committee of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Paris, the Scientific Council of Elcano Royal Institute (Madrid), and the Editorial board of the journal Futuribles (Paris).
Director, European programme, Fondation pour l’Innovation Politique (2005-09); Research Fellow, Fondation Robert Schuman (2003-04); Research Fellow, Prospective Studies and Foresight Centre, Futuribles International (1996-2002); Forward Studies Unit; European Commission (1995).
PhD in political science, Sciences-Po Paris; MA in philosophy and MA international relations, Panthéon Sorbonne. Institute of Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) 2011-2012. Colonel of the Citizens’ Reserve of the French Air Force.

Friday February 6 | 4:00–5:15 | Strategic Tech Sovereignty: Europe’s Next Frontier | NYE AUDITORIUM

The Honorable Eric Rosenbach is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School and is the Director of the Defense, Emerging Technology, and Strategy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He previously co-led the Belfer Center with former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. Rosenbach currently serves on the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board and on the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Business Board.
Rosenbach teaches graduate courses in policy development, strategy execution, and emerging technology. He also teaches two online courses for HarvardX on managing cyber riskand public sector strategy execution.
Rosenbach previously held several senior-level appointee jobs in government. As the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense from 2015-2017, Rosenbach served as Secretary Ash Carter’s closest strategic advisor on key policy initiatives, such as the war to defeat ISIS, the “rebalance” to Asia, and the effort to check Russian aggression. Rosenbach also led the Department’s efforts to improve innovation by forging and managing key initiatives such as the Defense Digital Service and the Defense Innovation Unit.
Before serving as Chief of Staff, Rosenbach was the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security and Homeland Defense. His diverse portfolio as Assistant Secretary included cyber, space, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, antiterrorism, continuity of government, and defense support to civil authorities. Earlier, Rosenbach served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber Policy.
Rosenbach previously served as national security advisor for then-Senator Chuck Hagel and as a professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he led oversight of Intelligence Community counterterrorism programs. A former Army intelligence officer and commander of a telecommunications intelligence unit, Rosenbach led a team that worked closely with the NSA to provide strategic intelligence in direct support of commanders in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Rosenbach has published widely and authored several books, including Confronting Cyber Risk: An Embedded Endurance Strategy. The LA Times called his book Find, Fix, Finish: Inside the Counterterrorism Campaigns that Killed bin Laden and Devastated Al Qaeda, co-authored with Aki Peritz, “an important volume in the secret history of a nasty war.” 

As a Fulbright fellow, he conducted research on privatization programs in Eastern Europe. He holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown, a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College.

Saturday February 7 | 12:15–1:30 | MEP Debate | JFK JR. FORUM

James Dennison is Professor at the Migration Policy Centre of the European University Institute in Florence and the Pierre Keller Professor at Harvard Kennedy School. His research interests include social and political attitudes, behaviour, and communication, migration, and quantitative methods and his work has been published in dozens of leading scientific journals. He holds a PhD from the European University Institute, has held positions at several world leading universities, has secured numerous grants and international collaborations, and regularly advises international organisations such as the United Nations and European Commission, political parties, NGOs, and private sector organisations on how to effect change with evidence-based solutions. His work has been featured repeatedly in international media such as the Financial Times, The Economist, the Guardian, the BBC, and beyond.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | Security First or Leadership First? Europe’s Strategic Energy Crossroads | TAUBMAN G50

Joseph E. Aldy is the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of the Practice of Environmental Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, a University Fellow at Resources for the Future, a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His research focuses on climate change policy, energy policy, and regulatory policy. He also chairs the Faculty Steering Committee to the Salata Institute’s Climate Action Accelerator. In 2009-2010, he served as the Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment at the White House. Aldy previously served as a Fellow at Resources for the Future, Co-Director of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, Co-Director of the International Energy Workshop, and worked on the staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University and MEM and bachelor’s degrees from Duke University.

Friday February 6 | 5:45–7:00 | From Periphery to Frontline: Rethinking Security in the Arctic | NYE AUDITORIUM

Henry Lee is the Jassim M. Jaidah Family Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program and Co-Chair of the Arctic Initiative in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS.

Before joining HKS in 1979, Lee spent nine years in Massachusetts State Government as Director of the State’s Energy Office and Special Assistant to the Governor for Environmental Policy. He has served on numerous state, federal, and private advisory boards concerning energy and the environment. Lee is a former Chairman of the Massachusetts Stewardship Council, which oversees state parks and recreation facilities. Additionally, he has worked with private and public organizations, including the InterAmerican Development Bank, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, the State of Sao Paulo, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior, the National Research Council, the Intercontinental Energy Corporation, General Electric, and the U.S. EPA.

Lee’s research interests surround energy and transportation issues, U.S. climate policy, China’s energy policy, and public infrastructure projects in developing countries. Lee is a co-author of Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China (Cambridge University Press, 2021). His forthcoming publications include: a book chapter on state electricity regulation and climate (with Judy Chang), a paper on deploying renewable energy in China (with Bo Bai), and a new case study on solid waste disposal in Serbia.

Friday February 6 | 12:30–1:45 | Opening Ceremony – Flagship Session – Leo Varadkar | JFK JR. FORUM
Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Flagship Session – Christos Christou | JFK JR. FORUM

Mathias Risse is Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He has worked extensively in political philosophy with a focus on international and global questions ranging from human rights, inequality, taxation, trade and immigration to climate change, obligations to future generations and the future of technology, and the impact of artificial intelligence on a range of normative issues. Risse has also worked on questions in ethics, decision theory and 19th-century German philosophy, especially Nietzsche.

Risse teaches at Harvard College and Harvard Extension School. He is the co-director of the Graduate Fellowship Program at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics and director of the McCloy Program. He is also affiliated with Harvard’s Department of Philosophy and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Europe’s Role in a Multipolar World Order | JFK JR. FORUM

Matthew Kaminski is a Polish-born American journalist and media executive. He’s the editorial chair of Middle East Broadcasting Networks and editor-at-large of the Arsenal. Matt also is editor in chief of Evident AI Insights, advises New Vista Capital, and serves on the boards of the Partners Group and World.Minds. He’s the cofounder of POLITICO Europe, which launched in 2014 as a separate company, and ran the publication for four years. He was subsequently editor-in-chief of POLITICO in Washington in 2019-2023 and a columnist there until early 2025. Matt won an Overseas Press Club and was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his coverage of Ukraine in 2014. He graduated from Yale and lives in Washington.

Saturday February 7 | 9:00–10:30 | Turning Europe into a Research Powerhouse | WEXNER 436

J. Michael McQuade is the Director of the Program on Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement & Global Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in the Harvard Kennedy School. The program is dedicated to research, dialogue and training
at the intersection of technology and policy. Prior to this role, Dr. McQuade served as the Vice President for Research and Special Advisor to the President of Carnegie Mellon University, where he provided operational leadership and strategic direction for the University’s research enterprise and advocated for the role that science, technology, and innovation play for national security and economic competitiveness. 

McQuade has had a distinguished private sector career in roles ranging from developing and commercializing new and novel technologies to executive operational leadership and general management. He served as Senior Vice President for Science & Technology at United Technologies Corporation, where he managed research, engineering, and development activities across a broad range of high-technology products and services for the global aerospace, defense, building systems, and energy industries. Previously, he led the medical products division of 3M’s global healthcare portfolio and served as the President of Eastman Kodak’s Health Imaging business.

Dr. McQuade has been deeply involved in the development of national and international policies related to science and technology investments and regulations, national security, and economic competitiveness. He has served as a member of the President’s Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology and of the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, was a founding member of the Defense Innovation Board, and a member of the National Academies’ National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable.

He holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. He received his doctorate in experimental high energy physics for research performed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory on charm quark production.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Europe’s Global Role: Taking the Lead in International Development | TAUBMAN G50

Ambassador Samantha Power is the Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School. From 2021 to 2025, under President Biden, she served as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she led efforts to combat corruption and democratic backsliding, respond to humanitarian crises, and help countries adapt to climate change. Under her leadership, USAID expanded partnerships with the private sector and local organizations, distributed 700 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in developing countries, and supported Ukraine’s economy and energy sector in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
From 2013 to 2017, Ambassador Power served as a member of President Obama’s cabinet and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where she worked to advance human rights, address conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, and strengthen international measures to combat ISIS and North Korean nuclear proliferation. From 2009 to 2013, she worked at the National Security Council (NSC) as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. Earlier in her career, she was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and worked as a freelance war correspondent in the former Yugoslavia. A Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the New York Times bestsellers, “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide and The Education of an Idealist, she has twice been named to TIME magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People.” She and her husband Cass Sunstein have two teenage children.

Friday February 6 | 2:15–3:30 | Rearming Europe: The Dilemma of European Strategic Autonomy | NYE AUDITORIUM

Sanne Cornelia J. Verschuren is an Assistant Professor of International Security at the Pardee School of Global Studies of Boston University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of international relations, the domestic determinants of security policy, and the role of ideas, norms, and institutions in national security decision-making. She focusses on how states fight war, examining why they construct novel weapon technologies, how they envision fielding such technologies, and why they choose to abandon certain technologies and practices. Sanne is in the process of finalizing her first book manuscript, entitled “Imagining the Unimaginable: War, Weapons, and Procurement Politics.” This book is based on her dissertation, which received APSA’s 2022 Kenneth N. Waltz Outstanding Dissertation Award. In the book, she asks why and how states decide to develop different weapon capabilities within a similar military domain—with the development of missile defenses by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and India as the central case studies. Beyond the book manuscript, her research has appeared in Global Studies Quarterly, War on the Rocks, and Inkstick Media, among others. Her research has been generously supported by the Stanton Foundation, the European Commission, the National Science Foundation, the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, the Belgian American Education Foundation, the Tobin Project, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, the Pardee School of Global Studies and the Brown Graduate School.

Before joining Boston University, Sanne was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow with Sciences Po’s Center for International Studies, a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a predoctoral research fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She graduated with a LL.B. and LL.M. Magna Cum Laude from Ghent University and received a M.Sc. with Distinction in the Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice from the School of Oriental and African Studies, as well as M.A. in Political Science from Brown University.

Saturday February 7 | 2:45–4:00 | Recommitting to the Alliance: Does Transatlanticism Still Serve U.S. and European Interests in a Fragmented World? | STARR AUDITORIUM

Between January and July 2022, she held the position of Foreign Policy Advisor to the Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. From 2010 to 2013, she was the spokesperson for the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov’s political cabinet. Previously, she was secretary of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and former German President Richard von Weizsäcker; supervising editor of the Foreign Policy Bulgaria magazine; and political officer at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, DC. Tcherneva holds an MA in Political Science from the Rhienische Friedrich-Wilhelm Universität in Bonn.

Saturday February 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Mobilizing Capital and Financing European Innovators | STARR AUDITORIUM

Yvonne joined the European American Chamber of Commerce New York Chapter as its Executive Director in October 2010. During her career she has worked with and consulted for a number of non-profits and for-profits and was able to significantly contribute to their growth and raising their public profiles, geographic foot print and relevance within their respective industries. 

In her role at the EACC she focuses on promoting an active transatlantic discourse and to engage the business communities on both sides in a meaningful dialog, to create profitable partnerships and to provide a professional platform to exchange ideas.

Education: Mrs. Bendinger-Rothschild is a graduate of the University of Applied Science in Ludwigshafen, Germany where she earned a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Marketing and Controlling/Finance. She is fluent in German and English, has a working knowledge of French and basic skills in Spanish.

Memberships & Affiliations: Mrs. Bendinger-Rothschild is a fellow at the Tribeca Disruptor Foundation and a member of the Corporate Advisory Committee at International Property Tax Institute (IPTI) and the Transatlantic Business & Investment Council [TBIC]; She is also a member of the Economic Club of New York and the Bretton Woods Committee’s “Development Finance” Working Group.

Yvonne’s priority is to create value for its membership and help grow the organization and its influence on both sides of the Atlantic. To that extend she is spearheading EACC’s international expansion strategy and is working with partners across the U.S. and Europe to identify & develop suitable locations and collaborators to expand the EACC chapter network.

Yvonne is also spearheading the EACCNY’s Transatlantic Resilient Infrastructure Alliance [TRIA], a joint initiative with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support investments for resilient infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, LatAm and Eastern Europe.