Wednesday, May 25, 2005
"Economic Realities & Market Conundrums: An Executive's Perspective"

Ronald Henry
Provost
Georgia State University

BIO- Ronald J. Henry has been in his current position as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Georgia State University since July 1994. 

Dr. Henry is involved extensively in state and national education policy and action committees, including University System of Georgia, state and local P-16, NASULGC Chief Academic Officers, Committee on Undergraduate Science Education of the National Research Council, NCATE Appeals Board, and SREB National Leadership Council. 

Professor Henry is the principal investigator for the Quality in Undergraduate Education project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the ExxonMobil Foundation.  He is also the principal investigator on a Standards-based Teacher Education Project funded by CBE, AACTE and by a Title II grant for the University System of Georgia.
Henry holds a Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics from Queens University of Belfast, North Ireland.. 

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Dick O'Brien
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
AGL Resources

BIO- Richard T. O'Brien was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of AGL Resources in May 2001, where he directs finance, strategy and accounting and financial reporting activities, as well as investor relations and information technology. He is also the chief executive officer of Sequent Energy, the company's wholesale marketing and asset optimization arm.

O'Brien joined AGL Resources in May 2001 after 20 years of senior level financial and operational experience in the energy, power, and electric utility businesses. Previously, O'Brien joined Mirant in early 2000 as vice president and president of Mirant Capital Management. Prior to that, O'Brien worked at PacifiCorp for 16 years, where he held several key executive positions.

O'Brien received his BA in economics from the University of Chicago and holds a JSD from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College.

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Max Darnell
Partner, Chief Investment Officer
First Quadrant, L.P.

BIO- Max Darnell is the Chief Investment Officer and Director of Research at First Quadrant, L.P. Mr. Darnell joined First Quadrant in 1991, after earning an M.S. in Economics from the UCLA. At First Quadrant, he oversaw derivatives research until 2000, when he assumed the role of Director of Research, overseeing both equities and derivative products. In January 2003, he was promoted to Chief Investment Officer.

First Quadrant is an investment manager that specializes in managing portfolios for large corporate and public institutional investors, and manages over $17 billion in actively and passively managed assets and overlays invested using its own proprietary investment strategies. These strategies are quantitative, relying upon objective analysis of market conditions and asset value rather than subjective inferences about future trends to form the basis for its investment decisions.

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BIO- Mike is a 30-year veteran of the investment banking business and co-founder and organizer of the Legacy companies. He is Chairman and CEO of Legacy Securities Corp. and Legacy Investment Group, Chief Manager of Legacy Lodging II and a Principal of Legacy Capital Partners. Mike is also a Director of Internet Pictures Corp. (NASDAQ:IPIX) and a Trustee of the Wellington Group. Previously, Mike was Head of Investment and Merchant Banking at Morgan Keegan and has held Partner or Managing Director positions with Prudential Securities, Thomson McKinnon, William Blair, and Robinson-Humphrey, among others.

Mike has held numerous leadership positions in many community organizations, including the Assoc. for Corporate Growth, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, GSU Alumni Assoc., the Georgia Economic Development Assoc. and the Red Carpet and Green Carpet Tours of Georgia. Currently, Mike is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the GSU Foundation.

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BIO- D.C. Aiken has served as Senior Vice President of Economic Forecasting, Pricing and Products at HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation since 1994. He is responsible for forecasting origination volume based on economic outlook and sales capacity and for the generation and pricing of new mortgage products to the sales force.

Aiken was ranked number #1 loan officer for Homebanc from 1996 to 2003 and ranked number #1 loan officer for the State of Georgia by the Mortgage Bankers Association for 1998 and 1999. He was also ranked among the top 50 loan officers nationwide by Mortgage Originator Magazine from 1997 to 2002. Aiken graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the College of William and Mary.

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