The New York Academy of Sciences Annual Gala

Amina J. Mohammed

Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed was Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from November 2015 to December 2016, where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action, protecting the natural environment, and conserving resources for sustainable development.

Prior to this, she served as Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post-2015 Development Planning, where she was instrumental in bringing about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

Before joining the UN, Ms. Mohammed worked for three successive administrations in Nigeria, serving as Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, providing advice on issues including poverty, public sector reform, and sustainable development, and coordinating programs worth $1 billion annually for MDG-related interventions.

She is also an Adjunct Professor in Development Practice at Columbia University and served on numerous international advisory boards and panels, including the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, the Global Development Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Women’s Millennium Initiative, Girl Effect, 2016 African Union Reform, and the ActionAid International Right to Education Project.

Ms. Mohammed began her 35-year career in the private sector with architects and engineers responsible for the project management of health, education, and public sector buildings.

Reuben Advani
CEO, Global STEM Alliance, The New York Academy of Sciences

Claire H. Altman
Executive Vice President, Land Use, Housing + Real Estate, Capalino+Company

Samuel Bakhoum
Assistant Member, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program; Assistant Attending, Department of Radiation Oncology; Finalist, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Kurt Becker
Vice Dean for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Lincoln Benet
Chief Executive Officer and President, Access Industries, Inc.

Stefan Bengtsson
President, Chalmers University of Technology

Bernadette Boden-Albala
Senior Associate Dean of Research and Program Development, NYU College of Global Public Health

Jeffrey Borenstein
President and CEO, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Karen Burke
Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology, Mount Sinai Health System; Honorary Life Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Russel Caflisch
Director, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University

Nancy Cantor
Chancellor, Rutgers University - Newark

Patrick Caubel
Senior Vice President, Head of Pharmacovigilance, Pfizer

Martin Chalfie
Nobel Laureate; University Professor of Biological Sciences, Columbia University

Andrew J. Chung
Chief Executive Officer, Innovo Property Group

Chris Cioffe
Senior Vice President, Global Snacks R&D, PepsiCo

James Cronican
Senior Director, TAU Portfolio Management, Neuroscience TA, Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Margaret Crotty
Executive Director, Partnership With Children

Bijan Davari
Vice President of Next Generation Computing Systems/Technology, IBM

Ellen de Brabander
Senior Vice President, Nutrition Research & Development, PepsiCo; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Christopher Eisgruber
President, Princeton University

Marta Filizola
Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Professor, Pharmacological Sciences and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Jay Flynn
Senior Vice President & Chief Product Officer, Research, Wiley

Niankai Fu
Postdoctoral Researcher, Lin Research Group, Cornell University; Finalist, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Elaine Fuchs
Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, The Rockefeller University; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yale University

Elodie Ghedin
Director, Center for Genomics & Systems Biology; Professor of Biology and Global Public Health, New York University

Lucia Gualtieri
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Geosciences, Princeton University; Finalist, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Susan Hamel
Senior Director, Global R&D, PepsiCo

Cheryl Healton
Dean, College of Global Public Health, New York University

Annie Heremans
Vice President, Research & Development, Unilever

Paul Horn
Director, The Center for Urban Science, New York University; Senior Vice Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering; Chair, The New York Academy of Sciences

Hon. Jerry MacArthur Hultin
Co-Founder, Global Futures Group

Beth Jacobs
Managing Partner, Excellentia Global Partners; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Samantha Kappagoda
Co-Managing Member, Numerati® Partners, LLC; RiskEcon® Lab for Decision Metrics, Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences NYU; Co-Founder, Risk Economics, Inc.

Julia Kempe
Director, Center for Data Science, New York University

Seema Kumar
Vice President, Innovation, Global Health, and Policy Communication, Johnson & Johnson; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Bill LaFontaine
General Manager, Intellectual Property and Vice President, Research Business Development, IBM

Paul Landers
Head of Strategic Partnerships, Director of Connect to Learn, Ericsson

Jonathan Lanfear
Vice President, Oncology & CNS Business Development, External Innovation, Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Brett Lauring
Vice President, Head of Clinical Translational Sciences, GI, Translational Research and Early Clinical, Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Jeffrey Lee
Senior Vice President, Capalino+Company

Pablo Legorreta
Founder & CEO, Royalty Pharma; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Michael Liewen
Senior Vice President, Food Safety, Quality Assurance and Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, PepsiCo

Erik Lium
Executive Vice President, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners

Rolf Lundström
Co-Founder, Frontit AB

David Malawer
Senior Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Frank Mancini
Principal and Head of Asset Management, Innovo Property Group

Adam Margolin
Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine; Director, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Mount Sinai Health System

Szabolcs Marka
Walter O. LeCroy, Jr. Professor of Physics, Columbia University; Faculty Winner, 2011 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Jaime Mateus-Tique
Co-Founder, Liquidity Services, Inc.

Camille McGratty
Vice President, Silverstein Properties, Inc.

Charlton McIlwain
Vice Provost for Faculty Engagement and Development, New York University

Katarina Mellström
Senior Director, Development Office, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

Donna Milrod
Former Managing Director, Head of DTCC Solutions; Chairman of the Board, DTCC Deriv/SERV LLC; Chairman of the Board of Managers, Omgeo; Treasurer, The New York Academy of Sciences

Wei Min
Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University; Faculty Finalist, 2012 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Amina J. Mohammed
Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

David Mordecai
Co-Managing Member, Numerati® Partners, LLC; RiskEcon® Lab for Decision Metrics, Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences NYU; Co-Founder, Risk Economics, Inc.; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Pamela Morris
Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

Jeremy Moss
Senior Vice President, Silverstein Properties, Inc.

Shruti Naik
Assistant Professor, Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Dermatology, NYU Langone School of Medicine; Winner, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

His Excellency Koji Omi
Founder and Chairman, STS Forum

Giovanni Pacifici
Vice President, Cloud and Cognitive Platform, IBM

Andrew Peretz
Executive Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Thomas Pompidou
Venture Partner, Innovation Endeavors; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Ronit Prawer
Director, Eastern USA, UK Science & Innovation Network, British Consul-General, Boston

G. Michael Purdy
Executive Vice President for Research, Columbia University

Michael Purugganan
Dean for Science, Faculty of Arts & Science, New York University

Annika Rembe
Consul General of Sweden in New York

Rory Riggs
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Investment Committee, Royalty Pharma

Gerald Rosberg
Senior Executive Vice President, Columbia University

Michael Rosenfield
Vice President of Data Centric Solutions (DCS), IBM

Ajay Royyuru
Vice President, Healthcare & Life Sciences Research, IBM

Ellis Rubinstein
President and CEO, The New York Academy of Sciences

Joanna Rubinstein
President and CEO, World Childhood Foundation USA

Christopher Saikus
Senior Director, External Innovation, PepsiCo

Peter Schauss
Assistant Professor, Experimental Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, University of Virginia; Finalist, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Sylvia Schwaag Serger
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Deputy President, Lund University

Ben Shapiro
Senior Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Priyanka Sharma
Postdoctoral Research, Hsiao Group, Stony Brook University; Finalist, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Lingyan Shi
Postdoctoral Researcher, Min Lab, Columbia University; Winner, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Hal Stein
Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Kathleen Stern
Senior Director, Bioethics and Science Philanthropy, Global Patient & Scientific Affairs, ‎Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Paul Stoffels
Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Todd Stracci
Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Eileen Sullivan-Marx
Dean, Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University

Antonio Tataranni
Senior Vice President, Global R&D, Physiology and Life Sciences, PepsiCo

Peter Thorén
Executive Vice President, Access Industries; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Judy Verses
Executive Vice President, Research, Wiley

Marica and Jan Vilcek
Co-Founders, The Vilcek Foundation

Grace Wang
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, The State University of New York; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences

Lu Wei
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology; Winner, 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Martin Wikstrom
Senior Project Leader, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

Travis Wilson
Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank

Xinxin (Katie) Zhu
Executive Director, Yale Center for Biomedical Data Science

Michael Zigman
President and CEO, NYC First; Governor, The New York Academy of Sciences