Job Title: 
President, Committee for Economic Development
Organization: 
The Conference Board

Dr. Lori Esposito Murray is President of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board. Murray brings to CED extensive experience at the highest echelons of domestic and international policy. She most recently served as an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR). Prior to her role at CFR, she held the distinguished national security chair at the US Naval Academy. She also is president emeritus of the World Affairs Councils of America, the largest non-partisan, non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to educating and engaging the US public on global issues.

Murray's work in government crosses political parties and extends to both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Her multiple roles have included serving as special advisor to President Clinton on the Chemical Weapons Convention and as the assistant director for multilateral affairs at the State Department’s US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Prior to that, Murray worked as executive director of the Department of Defense’s Federal Advisory Committee on Gender-Integrated Training in the Military and Related Issues. She also headed the congressionally mandated US-China Security and Economic Review Commission, and was a consultant to President George W. Bush’s Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction and US Intelligence Capabilities.

Murray worked for almost a decade as national security advisor to Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS), a senior Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her responsibilities included the full spectrum of US national security: foreign policy, defense, intelligence, and trade issues.  Earlier in her career, Murray served as the professional associate to the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on International Security and Arms Control.

Dr. Murray received her BA from Yale University and her PhD from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Profile Type: 
Speaker
Job Title: 
Chairman, President & CEO
Organization: 
American Electric Power

Nick Akins is chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer of American Electric Power. He is AEP’s 11th Chairman, 10th President and sixth CEO in the company’s more than 100-year history.

Under his leadership, AEP is investing in modernization and security of the electric grid, resource diversification, and technology and innovation to enable the transition to a clean energy future while preserving universal access to the grid. Akins led a culture transformation to engage employees in customer-focused innovation, enhance diversity and inclusiveness, and build workforce agility for a digital future. Through strategic partnerships and collaboration with customers, Akins has positioned AEP to redefine the future of energy and embrace the transformation sweeping the industry.

Akins rose through the ranks at both AEP and the former Central and South West Corporation (CSW), which merged with AEP in 2000, holding various positions of increasing leadership responsibility throughout his career.

A native of Louisiana, Akins received his bachelor’s degree in 1982 and a master’s degree in 1986 in electric engineering from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. Additional training includes executive management programs at Louisiana State University, the University of Idaho and the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas.

Akins is a former chairman of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP), and Ohio Business Roundtable (OBRT), as well as the former chair of the U.S. Business Roundtable (BRT) Energy and Environment Committee, of which he remains a member. Currently, he serves as chairman of the boards of Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (NEIL) and OhioHealth, and co-chair of the Columbus Partnership. Additionally, he is a member of the boards of the Analysis and Resilience Center for Systemic Risk (ARC), EEI, GSEP, Institute of Nuclear Power Operators (INPO), Fifth Third Bancorp, OBRT and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2020, he was appointed to a two-year term on the National Petroleum Council.

Profile Type: 
Speaker
October 1st, 2019
The East Africa Geothermal Project (EAGP) supported the First International Symposium on Geothermal Energy in Ethiopia. EAGP Program Director Andrew Palmateer participated as a guest speaker sharing his experience working in the geothermal energy sector in Ethiopia and East Africa.  
October 29th, 2018

The United States Energy Association (USEA), sponsored two short courses for the ARGeo C7 conference held in Kigali, Rwanda. These “Short Courses” provided two days of instruction related to geothermal conceptual modeling and reservoir management.

September 14th, 2019

The exchange was focused on updating the U.S. industry on key improvements in enabling environments for geothermal as well as future commercial opportunities throughout Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. The delegation was led by the US-East Africa Geothermal Partnership team and comprised representatives from Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. 

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