Guiding the Reopening of American Business: Real-World Lessons

James E.K. Hildreth, PhD, MD
Meharry Medical College

James E.K. Hildreth, Ph.D., M.D. is the 12th president and chief executive officer of Meharry Medical College, the nation’s largest private, independent historically black academic health sciences center. A native of Camden, Arkansas, Dr. Hildreth began his undergraduate studies in 1975 at Harvard University and was selected as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas in 1978. He graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in chemistry in 1979. Dr. Hildreth enrolled at Oxford University in England, graduating with a Ph.D. in immunology in 1982.

He attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, taking a one-year leave of absence from medical school for a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology from 1983 to 1984. In 1987, he obtained his M.D. from Johns Hopkins and joined the Hopkins faculty as assistant professor. In 2002, Dr. Hildreth became the first African American in the 125-year history of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to earn full professorship with tenure in the basic sciences.

In October 2008, he was honored for his contributions to medical science by election to the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious biomedical and health policy advisory group in the U.S. In August of 2011, Dr. Hildreth became dean of the College of Biological Sciences at University of California, Davis. He was the first African-American dean in the university, which was founded in 1905. He was also appointed as a tenured professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology as well as professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Lance M. Fritz
Union Pacific

Lance M. Fritz is Union Pacific chairman, president and chief executive officer. He became chairman of the board effective October 1, 2015. Fritz became president and chief executive officer February 5, 2015, when he also was elected to the corporation’s board of directors.

He previously served as president and chief operating officer of Union Pacific Railroad, a position he had held since February 2014, after serving as executive vice president Operations and vice president-Labor Relations, respectively. He began his Union Pacific career in July 2000 as vice president and general manager-Energy in the company’s Marketing and Sales department.

Before joining Union Pacific, Fritz worked for Fiskars Inc., Cooper Industries and General Electric. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and earned a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Fritz is a member of the board of directors for the Association of American Railroads. He is chair of the Business Roundtable trade and international committee and serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board and executive committee, the STRATCOM consultation committee and the Georgia Institute of Technology president’s advisory board. Fritz is deeply involved with organizations in his local community. He is the immediate past chairman of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce board of directors. He is also a member of the board of directors for Nebraska Medicine and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium.

Paul Medeiros
NSF International

Paul Medeiros directs NSF International’s Consulting and Technical Services team, providing unparalleled service to North American clients. He is responsible for all the strategic and operational aspects of the business.

Paul has more than 25 years of experience including several years of senior management experience in consulting, technical and retail audit services and he has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in risk management and quality management. Paul is a Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence with ASQ and a Certified Public Health Inspector (CPHI(C)). Paul has a B.Sc. in Environmental Health from Ryerson University and a M.Sc. in Food Safety and Quality Assurance from the University of Guelph.

Elizabeth Pinkham
Salesforce

Elizabeth Pinkham is responsible for Salesforce’s global real estate strategy, overseeing the company’s real estate portfolio and workplace design, as well as creating one-of-a-kind experiences for Salesforce’s employees, customers, partners, and the community.

Under Ms. Pinkham’s leadership, ten Salesforce Towers have been unveiled at the company’s headquarters across the globe in San Francisco, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Dublin, London, Tokyo, and Sydney. Bringing her brand influence to the workplace experience, she introduced the Ohana Floor, an open flexible hospitality space located at the top of the company’s towers. Typically a space for executive offices, Pinkham took a unique approach to designing these floors by opening them up to the community. During the day, the space is available for employees and their guests and on weeknights and weekends, the Ohana Floor is open to non-profits and education groups to host events at no cost.

A Salesforce veteran of over 19 years, Pinkham was previously responsible for global strategic events. She oversaw a wide range of brand and event experiences, including management of the company’s annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco since its first program in 2003 to Dreamforce 2016, which drew 171,000 registered attendees and 16 million plus online viewers.

Before joining Salesforce, Elizabeth held marketing positions at Oracle and Sybase. Ms. Pinkham holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.