Professor Calhoun is a world-renowned social scientist whose work connects sociology to culture, communication, politics, philosophy and economics. He took up his post as LSE Director on 1 September 2012, having left the United States where he was University Professor at New York University and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge and President of the Social Science Research Council. Professor Calhoun took a D Phil in History and Sociology at Oxford University and a Master's in Social Anthropology at Manchester. He co-founded, with Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at LSE, the NYLON programme which brings together graduate students from New York and London for co-operative research programmes. He is the author of several books including 'Nations Matter, Critical Social Theory, Neither Gods Nor Emperors' and most recently 'The Roots of Radicalism' (University of Chicago Press, 2012).

Describing his own approach to academic work, Professor Calhoun says: "We must set high standards for ourselves, but in order to inform the public well, not to isolate ourselves from it."

Valery Chichkanov  is a famous Russian economist, advisor to Gazprom Energoholding, advisor to the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and former vice-prime minister of Russian Federation. Mr. Chichkanov is a Doctor of Economics, Professor, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR ( 1981), Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences (1991), member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, a member of the U.S. Academy of International Business (1993), Advisor to the Rector of RANEPA (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration), member of the Advisory Council of the Government of the Russian Federation (2000), director of the Institute of research and Information, a member of the International Union of Economists, chairman of the Public Council under the FSSP Russia, the president of the " United Lawyers ". Mr. Chichkanov is the member of the Advisory Committee of the Council state Duma Energy (on legislative regulation of activities in the oil industry), a member of the board of directors of the publishing house "Enlightenment", Vice President - state Secretary of the Russian Union of Engineers. Since 2007, Mr. Chichkanov serves as the Scientific Director of the UN World Technological University and since 2012, the trustee of the Fund of the Security Service of the President of the Russian Federation. Mr. Chichkanov was awarded The Order of Merit IV Medal and USA Medal of Honour. He is author of more than 200 publications, including 20 monographs on the organization of economic management, the regional economy and international relations. Proceedings published in twenty countries, including the U.S., Japan, France, Germany, China, etc. Prepared 24 doctors and 68 candidates of economic sciences; also participated in more than 90 international congresses. He performed in 38 universities around the world on social and economic problems of Russia.

Mr. J. K. Olusegun Agbaje, also known as Segun has been the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc since June 22, 2011. Most recently, he has defended his title as African Banker of the year, awarded by the World Finance Banking Awards. Mr. Agbaje served as Deputy Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank plc from August 2002 to April 20, 2011 and its Divisional Head Institutional Banking Division. He served as Acting Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited since April 20, 2011. Prior to joining Guaranty Trust Bank- Plc, he worked for Ernst & Young, San Francisco, from 1988 to 1990 as a staff Auditor. He helped to develop the Interbank Derivatives market amongst dealers and introduced the Balance Sheet Management Efficiency System in Nigeria. As Head of the Settlements Group of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, he supervised the conversion of its operations from a cost centre to a profit centre by the year 2000. Being a project-oriented person, he was very instrumental in the introduction of Valucard (an electronic payment system) and Western Union Money Transfer. He was also directly responsible for Guaranty Trust Bank Plc's Initial Public Offer of N2.5 billion in July 2002. He served as a Director of InterSwitch Limited. Mr. Agbaje has been a Director of Guaranty Trust Bank plc since January 2000. He serves as a Director of Kakawa Discount House Limited and Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited. He served as a Director of Mansard Insurance Plc (formerly Guaranty Trust Assurance Plc) until October 26, 2011. Mr. Agbaje holds a first degree in Accountancy from the University of San Francisco, California (1986), and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the same university in 1988.

  Mohammed Dewji graduated in 1998 from Georgetown University, Washington D.C majoring in International Business and Finance and taking Theology as a minor subject. After graduation, he headed straight back to Tanzania and joined the family business where he became Chief Financial Controller at Mohammed Enterprises Tanzanian Limited (METL).  In 2000 Tanzania hosted its second multiparty elections' stood in those elections for his home constituency Singida as a member of parliament. He won the preliminary votes in CCM (ruling party) with overwhelming majority, but the joy was short lived as he was not nominated to contest for the seat by the party on grounds that he was too young. (He was just 25 on that time). Two years after marriage Mohammed finally took full control of his company Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (METL) and became the Managing Director. Tanzania held its third multi-party elections in 2005 and he stood for the parliamentary seat again and this time he won a landslide victory in preliminary votes and got chosen by the CCM party to stand as a candidate. In the general election he won and overwhelming majority of 90 percent of the total votes and was sworn in as a member of parliament on the 29th of December. In 2007 there were party elections and Mr Dewji vied for the Membership of national Executive Committee (NEC) of CCM (ruling party) and got enough votes to secure his slot in the NEC sessions for the next five years.

Peter M. Sullivan is a Managing Director and Head of the Public Sector Group for Africa at Citigroup. He is also a Senior Credit Officer of Citi and is based in London. The Public Sector Group is committed to facilitating global best practices and success transfer among its client base including Central banks, Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Infrastructure. Peter is responsible for developing business and delivering product solutions for sovereign, regional and local government clients in Sub-Sahara and North Africa. He has 24 years of customer relationship experience with Citi including the coverage of Global Financial Institutions, Industrials and Sovereigns. His product background extends from trade and structured finance to fixed income and credit-based structures. Peter has been covering the Public Sector in Africa for the past 7 years. He was an integral member of the teams that arranged the debut bond issues for Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Nigeria. In 2013, he was at the forefront of the debut bond issue and rating for Rwanda, as well as for the second issuances made by Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon. Peter also led a Risk Capital Review for the African Development Bank in 2008. Prior to joining Citi, Peter served for two and half years in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa. Subsequently, he worked as a Financial Analyst for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an agency of the U.S. Government, before receiving his MBA from Columbia University in 1989.

Henry Obi is a partner and the Chief Operating Officer for Helios Investment Partners (“Helios”), an Africa-focused Private Equity firm which operates a family of funds and their related co-investment entities, aggregating more than $1.7 billion in capital commitments. He is responsible for the operations of the firm and is a member of Helios’ investment committee. Prior to joining Helios, he was a Partner for several years at Aureos Capital in London. He started his investment career in the power investment team at CDC and has also worked at Actis and Dynegy, a US energy trader. Mr. Obi has an MBA from the London Business School. He sits on the advisory board of Maris Capital.

  Nana Sao is a Partner at DMC Partners having previously been Managing Director and head of Goldman Sachs's Natural Resources Investment Banking Division in Africa. Nana relocated from London in 2009, with responsibility for coverage of Goldman Sachs' key clients in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nana has an over 10 year track record of advising on landmark transactions in Africa including advising Jinchuan on its $1.4bn acquisition of Metorex and Massmart on its potential $4.3bn sale to Walmart. Nana has worked on the following notable transactions: adviser to Tronox on the $2.4bn acquisition of Exxaro’s mineral sands assets, adviser to BHP Billiton in its $147bn offer for Rio Tinto, adviser to Arcelor Mittal in its $1.3bn sale to a BEE consortium; adviser to Celtel International in its sale to MTC for $3.4bn; bookrunner on AngloGold’s multi-tranche $1bn debt financing, bookrunner on a $3.0bn placement of Anglo American's shares in AngloGold and $2.0bn placement of Gold Fields shares for Norilsk Nickel; the IPO and LSE listings for Namakwa Diamonds and Hochschild Mining and high yield bond financings for Foodcorp and Reclamation group.  

Carl Franklin has been with Dangote Cement since June 2011 when he joined as its Head of Investor Relations. His work in improving the company's transparency and investor friendliness has helped the company raise its profile amongst international investors. During his time with Dangote Cement the 12-year old company's value has increased from $11bn to $25bn, where it battles daily with 102-year old Holcim to be the worlds most highly valued cement company. In recognition of his efforts he was recently elevated to a newly created post as Group Head of Investor Relations for Dangote Industries, the holding company, where he now looks after Dangote's listed Sugar and Salt companies, as well as Dangote Cement. Before joining Dangote, Carl worked in the City as an analyst, and before that he was a business journalist. He has professional and postgraduate qualifications in both Investment Analysis and Journalism. Carl is also the author of a book on business strategy and a Getty Images Photographer.

  Rob Hersov, 52, is a South African entrepreneur, senior executive and private investor based in London. He currently serves as Managing Partner of Sapinda UK, is Chairman of the VistaJet Advisory Board, Chairman and Founding Partner of Invest Africa and Chairman of Adoreum Partners. Hersov's grandfather, Bob Hersov, founded AngloVaal, one of Southern Africa's largest mining and industrial companies, which his father, Basil Hersov, ran from 1973 to 2001. Rob has been a member of many public and private boards and owns many companies in the resource, media/marketing, luxury and finance sectors. Recently, Rob has been turning his attention to Africa, a place very close to his heart given his upbringing and family ties. He has been the driving force behind Sapinda Group's direct investments in sub-Saharan Africa. He has also made a number of personal investments on the continent and has close relationships with businesses across different regions. In April 2013, Rob saw an opportunity to create a platform for the growing number of individuals becoming involved in pan-African investments. Invest Africa was founded with the specific purpose of delivering on the demand for high quality relationships within growing African markets amongst the business community. The private club has amassed 60 members in just 4 months. Rob received a B.B.S. from the University of Cape Town and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He is married to entrepreneur Dr. Kate Hersov, founder of Medikidz, and he has two sons, aged 16 and 13, and a 1 year old daughter​.  

Lieutenant-General Sir Graeme Cameron Maxwell Lamb KBE CMG DSO is a retired British Army officer. He is a former Commander of the Field Army at Land Command, known for his contributions to counter-insurgency. Lamb currently serves as a special advisor to strategic advisory firm G3 and as director to private military company Aegis Defence Services. Educated at Rannoch School and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Queen's Own Highlanders as a second lieutenant on 8 March 1973. He has served in Northern Ireland and in various theatres of war including Bosnia. Lamb represented Sandhurst at modern pentathlon; won the army bobsleigh championship in 1975, also coming fifth in the British national championship and 31st in the Nations Cup; and is chairman of the army snowboarding association. 

Sir Lamb has been credited with having exercised substantial influence over the evolution of counter-insurgency in Iraq from 2006 onwards.  Recent contemporary histories of Iraq paint a favourable impression of Lamb as Senior British Military Representative, suggesting that he, influenced by his experiences in Northern Ireland, convinced his U.S. colleagues to adopt the principle of "limited war" — a process requiring "patience, subtlety, and a willingness to accept that Iraqis' own proclivities were going to drive much of the war's outcome", leading to Lamb's own "strategic engagement initiative' of 2006–2007. It was warmly reported that Lamb's departure in July 2007 left "a tremendous gap in the command's institutional memory".

In August 2009 it was reported that he would be heading for Afghanistan at the direct request of General David Petraeus of the US Army to head a programme designed to repeat the success of his efforts in Iraq whereby insurgents are persuaded to give up their arms, after which he retired from active service.

 

Philippe Kjellgren is a successful serial entrepreneur/visionary with a deep knowledge of fine hotels and over 20 years’ experience in marketing, sales, branding and web design. He has travelled to more than 100 countries and visited over 1,500 of the world’s finest hotels, building personal relationships with their management teams. In 2003 he founded Kiwi Collection; In 2009 Philippe created the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection for Visa’s premium cardholders, an initiative that launched in 145 countries and was translated into 10 languages. In May 2012 Philippe left Kiwi Collection to create Hotel Insider, a company which offers a curated collection of luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.

 

Robert is a partner in the Corporate department and specialises in private equity, corporate finance and M&A. He also chairs the firm's UK China group. He advises on private equity and venture capital transactions for investing institutions and management teams. He has acted for many years for public and private companies and brokers on IPOs and secondary issues. The sectors in which Robert has transactional experience include software and technology, financial services, insurance, business services, training and education, real estate and natural resources. He has been recommended in the Legal 500 for M&A.

A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, he qualified as a solicitor in 1989.

Martin Bratt is an Associate Principal in McKinsey and Company's London office, where he mostly supports extractive industries and infrastructure companies in emerging countries, in particular Africa. He has a particular focus on regulatory strategy, sustainability issues and stakeholder management. Martin is currently co-leading an internal research project sponsored by McKinsey's Global Institute, looking at economic development in resource-dependent countries. Martin is a graduate of the grande école program of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris and holds a Masters in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. He has worked in more than fifteen countries and is a fluent speaker of English, French and the Scandinavian languages  

Mr. Voicehovsky has 20 years of international investment banking and private equity experience. For over a decade he worked in London, first at HSBC HQ and then a decade at HQ of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Yury headed Standard Bank (Russia) for 3 years, served as Board Member of the largest Russian coal company SUEK (Siberian Coal and Energy Company), London listed Dragon Oil Company, etc. Mr. Voicehovsky is a co-founder of New Europe Real Estate Fund and participated in two start-up banks in Latvia. Currently Mr. Voicehovsky also serves as Chairman of the VCIOM, Arkhangelsk Airport  and Astor Capital Group. He is a member of the Board of Directors BTA Bank and is also an Advisor to the Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation. He is also member of the supervisory board of several non-commercial organizations, including being Chairman of the National Council for Investment Climate Development (see www.investmentclimate.ru; www.nand.ru; www.hvalevskoe.com) Mr. Voicehovsky holds an MSc in Finance from London Business School, a degree in International Business from University of Copenhagen and Investment Management Certificate (UK fund managers qualification). He is author of dozens of articles and gave many interviews in business media. In 2013 Yury was winner of prestigious all-Russia “Director of the Year” award. Most recently, in January 2014, he was appointed CEO of the newly formed National Investment Agency (also known as "Invest in Russia"), which aims to be the portal for which foreign investors are assisted in promoting projects in the Russian regions, as well as acting as an intermediary between the areas and potential investors.