Frances X. Frei is a Professor in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School.  Her research, course development, and teaching examine how organizations can more effectively design service excellence. Her academic research has been published in top-tier journals such as Management Science and Harvard Business Review.  In addition, she has published dozens of case studies across a variety of industries, including financial services, government, retail, software, telecommunications, and travel & leisure.
Professor Frei has received the HBS Student Association Faculty Award for teaching excellence on multiple occasions, as well as teaching awards from the Wharton School of Business and the University of Rochester.  Professor Frei also teaches in executive education programs and serves in an advisory capacity for organizations seeking to create greater value through their service experiences.

Professor Frei received her Ph.D. in Operations and Information Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  She holds an M.E. in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.
 

Chris Gibbons is an experienced technologist having held multiple executive positions at Microsoft including CIO for seven years.  Mr. Gibbons also headed Microsoft's global Office 2000 marketing program for enterprises.  After retiring from Microsoft, Mr. Gibbons was the CTO and a board member of eStara Corp until it was acquired by ATG.  He has also advised private equity firms such as Texas Pacific Group and Gryphon Investors, and Clearlake Capital on various technology investments. Most recently, Mr. Gibbons was the acting CIO for the Gates Foundation.  

Mr. Gibbons serves on a variety of boards and in advisory positions for technology, private equity and nonprofit companies.  Mr. Gibbons is a graduate of Lawrence University and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Dean C. Graham is President& Chief Operating Officer of CapitalSource Inc.(NYSE: CSE), a publicly-traded commercial finance company that manages over $20 billion of assets with approximately 675 people located in 23 offices throughout the United States. He is also a member of the company’s Executive Management Committee. Since the founding of CapitalSource in the fall of 2000, and prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2006, Mr. Graham served as President of the Healthcare and Specialty Finance Business and Managing Director of the Healthcare Finance Group.

Prior to joining CapitalSource, Mr. Graham was a Senior Vice President and a member of the credit committee at Heller Healthcare Finance (NYSE: HHF) and its predecessor company HealthCare Financial Partners (NYSE: HCFP). Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Graham was an attorney specializing in corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions with Hogan & Hartson LLP based in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Graham is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Avon Old Farms School, an independent secondary school located in Avon, Connecticut. He is also currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Perfall currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Archway Marketing Services, a provider of outsourced marketing operations management services.  Archway serves deep roster of leading national marketers through twenty-one facilities throughout the US and Canada with a staff of over 1500 employees. From October 2001 through October 2008, Mr. Perfall served as Chief Executive Officer of AHL Services, Inc., a provider of marketing support services and industrial staffing services throughout North America and Europe.  From September 1996 through September 2000 Mr. Perfall served as Chief Financial Officer of Snyder Communications, Inc.  Prior to joining Snyder Communications, Mr. Perfall was a partner within Arthur Andersen LLP.  Mr. Perfall is a director of inVentiv Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTIV) and Comstock Homebuilding Companies (NASDAQ: CHCI).  He is a member of the Board of Governors of St. Stephens and St. Agnes Schools, a trustee of the St. Stephens and St. Agnes Schools Foundation and a trustee of the Mason School of Business Foundation at the College of William and Mary.
 

Curtis Polk manages the business and investment interests of Michael Jordan, one of the most recognized sports icons in the world, and his related companies.  Mr. Polk entered the Sports’ Management business in 1989 at ProServ, Inc.  Prior to forming his own consulting business in 2001, Mr. Polk negotiated player contracts for the SFX Basketball Group and managed the firm’s operations in Washington, DC.  Both an attorney and a CPA, Mr. Polk was the SFX Basketball Group’s Executive Vice President and was President of its related financial services affiliate SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises.  He founded Falk Associates Management Enterprises (FAME) with David Falk in 1992.

W. Russell Ramsey is a successful entrepreneur having built multi-billion dollar businesses primarily in the fields of investment banking and money management.  He is widely known as co-founder of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (FBR).   Mr. Ramsey was cofounder, president and co-chief executive officer at FBR through 2001.

In 2001 Mr. Ramsey founded Ramsey Asset Management, a hedge fund manager, where he is chairman, CEO and Portfolio Manager.  He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of George Washington University  and is a member of the Council of Advisors of the National Geographic Society.