Transition to Executive Management

Ann is the instructor of Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Professionals at the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Professional and Executive Development.

Ann's many years of teaching at Marquette University in Milwaukee have prepared her to engage audiences of all levels of tenure and expertise. She also draws on her background as a certified public accountant and her 20-plus years of Fortune 500 and government contracting experience as she works to develop financial literacy at all levels of an organization.

Ann has held controller, director of accounting, and CFO roles at many organizations, including American Family Insurance, WellPoint Inc., and Attic Angel Community. She believes in consistently obtaining results through leadership, culture, and financial acumen for all professionals. Clients such as WellPoint Inc., National Government Services, and Marquette University have praised her business knowledge, strategic approach, and real-world insight.

Ann holds a BBA in accounting from the University of Wisconsin and has completed the coursework for her MBA from Cardinal Stritch University.

Keynote Speaker
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Psychology, and Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Bilge Mutlu, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Psychology, and Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

His research program builds human-centered methods and principles for designing robotic technologies that help people communicate, work, and pursue personal goals and draws on a transdisciplinary design research process that combines aspects of design, computer science, and social and cognitive sciences.

Brad is the director of the Nicholas Center for the Corporate Finance and Investment Banking at the Wisconsin School of Business. At the Nicholas Center, Brad is responsible for both administering the Center’s specialized programming focused on MBA and undergraduate students and teaching a number of its core courses. He also advises several student groups including the Graduate Finance Organization, the Investment Banking Club and Badger Blockchain.

Prior to joining the Nicholas Center, Brad was a managing director in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. While there, Brad advised corporate and private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism and defense, leveraged buyouts, debt and equity financings, restructurings, and fund-level financings. Representative transactions include advising Dow on its merger with DuPont, advising Axiall on its hostile defense against Westlake Corporation, advising Agrium on its proxy contest victory over JANA Partners, advising Dresser Rand on its sale to Siemens AG, Trinseo and Sensata IPOs and numerous financings for Bain Capital, Advent Capital Management, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, CF Industries and Eastman Chemical.

Brad received his JD and MBA degrees from the University of Chicago, received a B.A. in public policy from Duke University. He is also a member of the New York State Bar Association.

Deb has experience helping families and businesses meet various needs, concentrating on communication, transition, and next-generation development. She has worked with numerous families on developing effective communication and conflict resolution skills, facilitating various negotiated agreements (including shareholder and family employment agreements), developing family meetings, beginning stages of board development, and working with younger-generation members of family firms.

As a consultant with the Family Business Consulting Group, Deb interacts daily with several family business entities and their members at various stages of development. She has presented on numerous occasions to industry groups, family business centers, and individual company retreats on topics including the next generation and succession, communication and conflict resolution, and negotiation. She teaches for the Wisconsin School of Business in the BBA and MBA programs and also works with the Center for Professional and Executive Development.

Deb earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin. She also holds a Certificate in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising from the Family Firm Institute.

Professor Enno Siemsen teaches courses in operations management, sales and operations planning, project management, and global operations strategy. He also teaches in customized executive education programs.

His vast expertise is in the fields of forecasting, sales and operations planning, operations strategy, product development, and project management. Siemsen is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, as well as the Production and Operations Management Society.

His research currently focuses on quality inspections and improvement, and on human judgment in sales and operations planning processes. He has been published in leading outlets such as Management Science, Organization Science, Journal of Operations Management, Strategic Management Journal, and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.

He currently serves as a department editor for the Production and Operations Management Journal and as an associate editor for the Journal of Operations Management and Decision Sciences.

Professor Siemsen received his Ph.D. in Operations, Technology and Innovation Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additionally, he holds a Diploma of Business from the University of Göttingen.

Dr. Posen is an internationally recognized expert on strategy and innovation. His research and teaching is informed by a prior engagement as an entrepreneur in the technology and retail sectors. He is frequently invited to lecture on innovation strategy, strategy for competing under uncertainty, and global strategy, to audiences in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Dr. Posen holds a Ph.D. in Strategy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Wisconsin. He was previously on faculty at the University of Michigan, and has held affiliate appointments at Seoul National University (S. Korea), the Technion (Israel), and the University of Zurich (Switzerland). In studying strategy, Dr. Posen's research focuses on the learning processes through which firms innovate, build capabilities, and sustain competitive advantage. His work recognizes that, in many industries, innovation is a principal vehicle of competition, and firms must survive under conditions of continuing change.

Dr. Posen's research is regularly published in leading strategy journals. In addition, he holds influential editorial positions, as Associate Editor at Management Science, and on the Editorial Boards of: Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. His commentary on economic issues has appeared in a variety of media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, and BBC.

Lisa leverages decades of corporate and consulting experience to educate, counsel, and coach managers, executives, and leadership teams in the science and art of leadership and organizational culture. As a program director and coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Professional & Executive Development, Lisa oversees - and advises to - the rich leadership content within the Executive Leadership and Transition to Executive Management certificate programs.

Her background includes a range of human resources, leadership development, culture, and change experience, most recently from Baxter Healthcare and Hewitt Associates. Lisa has earned an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University, and both a Masters in Liberal Arts and a Certificate in Leadership from the University of Chicago. She is also a certified consultant with Human Synergistics, International. Her most important challenge is championing change in the public school where she is president of the board of education.

Artell has extensive experience in human resources management, advising and focusing on overall people strategy, talent management/development, and compensation/benefits. He has led transformative projects across all aspects of HR work globally, including talent development, generalist services, operations, technology, and global sourcing.

Artell is Principal and Managing Director of WatchWorks Management Consulting LLC. Previously, Artell was HR Senior Vice-President for Strategy, Technology & Operations at Aon plc, a $12B global insurance brokerage and HR consultancy. Artell also served as CHRO at Aon Hewitt, a 25,000-employee, $4B subsidiary of Aon plc. He retired from Aon plc in December 2013.

Prior to Aon plc, Artell was HR Vice President, Business Process Outsourcing at Hewitt Associates, Vice President of Training & Communications at Fidelity Investments, Retail Investor Services, and Senior HR Specialist at ExxonMobil.

Artell earned his Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science also from BYU.

Susan has experience in organizational development working with large multinational companies. Her focus is matrix organizations and how to navigate and influence cross-functionally in these organizations.

Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty, Susan worked for Baxter and two pharmaceutical companies. She also held an adjunct faculty role at Northwestern University teaching a leadership and change course as part of a master's in medical informatics, as well as a leadership and strategy course.

Susan is the author of Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations and The Cross Functional Influence Playbook. She has a B.A. from Central Michigan University and an M.A. from Indiana University.