RICHARD VIETOR is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration where he teaches courses on the regulation of business and the international political economy. He also teaches in several executive education programs. He received a B.A. in economics from Union College (1967), an M.A. in history from Hofstra University (1971), and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pittsburgh (1975). He was appointed Professor in 1984.

Before coming to the Business School in 1978, Professor Vietor held faculty appointments at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Missouri. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and Harvard's Newcomen Fellowship. In 1981, he received the Newcomen Award in business history. He serves on the editorial board of the Business History Review, the advisory board of IPADE, in Mexico, and the Infrastructure Committee of the Competitiveness Policy Council. He was President of the Business History Conference for 1993-1994.

Professor Vietor's research on business and government policy has been published in numerous journals and books. He has contributed chapters to America versus Japan (1986), Wall Street and Regulation (1981), Future Competition in Telecommunications (1989), and Government, Industries and Markets (1990). His books include Environmental Politics and the Coal Coalition (1980), Energy Policy in America (1984), Telecommunications in Transition (1986), Strategic Management in the Regulated Environment (1989), Contrived Competition (1994), Business Management and the natural Environment (1996), and Globalization and Growth: Case Studies in National Economic Strategies (2004), and How Countries Compete (2007).

For his courses in business-government relations and environmental management, Professor Vietor has published more than three dozen case studies on international energy issues, on the regulation of natural gas, nuclear power, air pollution and hazardous wastes, and on strategy and deregulation in airlines, railroads, telecommunications, and financial services. He has been a consultant to the Hudson Institute and the Energy Research and Development Administration, and is currently consultant to several corporations, such as IBM, General Electric and Anglo American and the Government of Malaysia.

Professor Vietor lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with his wife Cindy.

Udayan Bose (58) studied at St. Xavier’s School and the Presidency College, Calcutta, from where he graduated with First Class Honours and Distinction.  He was elected a Fellow in Banking by The Chartered Institute of Bankers UK, and studied at Harvard Business School, USA from where he did his Advanced Management Program. 

An international banker for 37 years, Bose was the Regional Director of Deutsche Bank South Asia (1980-1984), responsible for the Bank’s operations in South Asia, including India and Pakistan.  He covered Asia extensively, advising the Bank's clients for Project Financing and Investment banking in Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and India. 

Before joining Deutsche Bank, Bose had started his career as a Covenanted Officer of the erstwhile Grindlays Bank of UK (1969-80), where he trained as a commercial banker and worked in the Bank’s offices in India, London and New York. 

In 1985, Bose founded the first international Investment Bank in India called Creditcapital, in collaboration with Lazard Brothers & Co. Limited of London.  In later years, Lazard bought into Creditcapital, which was renamed Lazard India, which continues to remain one of India's premier Investment Banks, specialising in Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Structured Finance, Privatisation and Restructuring.

Over many years, Bose has advised several major and well known companies around the world and in India. Among the many companies he has advised include Reliance Group, Tata Group, Birla Group, Oberoi Hotels, Ambuja Cements (India), Union Bank of Switzerland, Holcim (Switzerland), Pirelli spa, Italcimenti (Italy), BAT plc (UK), Caisse National de Credit Agricole, Air France, Danone SA, Groupe Bull SA, Lafarge and Ciments Francais (France), Delta Airlines, 3M Corporation, Sun Chemicals, Praxair Inc., Pepsico (USA), Mitsubishi Chemicals Corp., Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., Fujitsu (Japan) and San Miguel Corporation (Philippines).

The two landmark transactions in India were when he advised Union Carbide Corporation, USA on their predicament in India after the Bhopal tragedy.  Bose helped them to exit the “Eveready” battery business in India by selling it to an Indian Group after receiving approvals from the Government of India and the Supreme Court.  The other significant transaction was when as Advisor to Union Bank of Switzerland (‘UBS’) he assisted UBS to conclude a gold swap transaction, in 1991, with the Government of India for US$ 300 million, which assisted the Government during a foreign exchange difficult moment.  In recent times, Bose also advised the Indian Government on its privatisation strategy and successfully led the privatisation of the Hotels division of ITDC and was mandated to sell Shipping Corporation of India, a transaction that now stands withdrawn.

In 1989, Bose pioneered the venture capital movement in India by setting up a series of venture capital Funds, one of the first being a pioneering Technology Fund, which was set up in 1993.  In 1994, Bose helped Lazard Asset Management to set up an Indian Unit Trust/Fund called The Lazard Birla India Fund, Mauritius and sat on its Board from 1994 till 2001.

Bose was made a Director of Lazard Brothers, London in 1993 and in 2001 he became one of the Global Partners of Lazard Group, the first Indian to reach that position. In 2002, he became one of the Managing Directors of Lazard Brothers, London, when he moved to the UK.  He has recently completed this assignment and returned to India to set up a Private Equity Buy Out Fund for acquiring and turning around under performing Indian companies.

Tushar Poddar joined Goldman Sachs as an Executive Director in November 2006. Tushar is involved in researching Asian economies, with particular focus on India. He was initially based in Hong Kong before moving to Mumbai in early 2007. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Tushar worked at the International Monetary Fund for 5 years in the Middle-East, African, and Fiscal Affairs Departments. He has written papers on international trade, monetary and fiscal policy. Tushar graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Ph.D. and Masters in Economics.

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Ron Somers is the President of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), the premier business advocacy organization committed to strengthening U.S.-India commercial ties and deepening two-way trade between these two dynamic economies.

Celebrating its 33rd Anniversary this year, USIBC is comprised of 250 of the top U.S. companies investing in India, joined by two dozen global Indian companies.

Headquartered in Washington, DC under the aegis of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S.-India Business Council has offices in New York, Silicon Valley, and in New Delhi.

A seasoned India-hand, Ron Somers previously served as Unocal Corporation’s chief executive based in India.

Starting in 1992, Ron supported India’s opening of the electric power sector, and later pioneered the development of the 1000 MW Mangalore Thermal Power Project.   

During Ron’s residency in India, he served on the Board of Directors of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company – India’s first private sector oil exploration company, as well as on the Board of the U.S. Educational Foundation of India (USEFI), which oversees the country’s Fulbright and Humprhey scholarship programs.

Ron Somers holds a Master’s Degree from Middlebury College where he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford University.

Mr. Puri is also the founder and CEO of the US India business Alliance (USIBA). USIBA is dedicated to strengthening economic ties between the US and India.

Sanjay regularly leads delegations of business and political leaders to India. He is a frequent public speaker on US-India relations and the political impact of the Indian American community. He has been recently featured in The New York Times and on NPR and PBS.

Mr. Puri is the Founder and CEO of Optimos Incorporated, an information technology company located in Chantilly, Virginia. Before founding Optimos, Mr. Puri worked at the World Bank. He received his MBA in Finance from the George Washington University School of Business.

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