Senior Advisor
Mr. Burns has a lifelong involvement with the hotel and hospitality industry. In 1970, he co-founded Regent International Hotels, which has operations all over the world and merged into Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in 1992. Mr. Burns has developed over 50 hotels and resorts and is the owner and developer of Grand Hotel, a Villa Feltrinelli in Italy.
Mr. Burns helped start the World Travel and Tourism Council. He also created the Robert Burns Foundation, which provides scholarships to Asian students for studies in the U.S. Mr. Burns is a Director of Asia Pacific Fund, ING Barings (Hong Kong), Wharf (Holdings) Limited (Hong Kong) and Chairman of Chrysalis Emerging Markets Fund. He is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council at Cornell University School of Hotel Management and the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management.
Mr. Burns holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University's School of Hotel Management.
Senior Advisor
Mr. Edwards has spent the last 30 years as an expert in re-engineering and repositioning major international and national specialty stores as well as consumer package goods companies.
Mr. Edwards is currently CEO and minority owner of K&M Associates, an international consumer goods company doing business in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. Prior to his tenure at K&M Associates, Mr. Edwards was the President and Founder of WBE Inc., a privately held consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, new product development, marketing management, distribution and channel selection, and advisory services relative to capitalization options. Mr. Edwards was President and CEO of REVCO Drug Stores, a 2000 store chain. He led the team that raised capital to fund a 2.5 billion dollar leveraged buyout. He has also had senior level positions with Mattel, Inc, F&M Distributors, XPect Discounts, Milor, Inc, and ALP Acquisition Limited Partnership.
Mr. Edwards was a scholarship student and academic honor cadet in the R.O.T.C. at the University of Rhode Island where he graduated with a BS in Mathematics.
Senior Advisor
Mr. Harman is a former General Counsel and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley where he spent 26 years. He subsequently was a consultant to Tiger Management and Barclays Bank. He is currently on the Advisory Boards of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He is also a Trustee of the J. Craig Venter Institute; a Trustee of the Foundation for National Archives; Chairman of the Investment Committee of the American Council on Germany; and, a Trustee of the Hispanic Society Museum in New York.
Mr. Harman graduated from Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School.
Senior Advisor
Dr. Snyder is Dean of the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and the George Pratt Shultz Professor of Economics at the School, overseeing the school’s academic programs in Chicago, London and Singapore. Before joining the GSB, Dr. Snyder was Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School. He began his academic career at the University of Michigan’s Business School. Dr. Snyder is active in The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the City of Chicago’s Civic Consulting Alliance.
Dr. Snyder received his PhD in Economics and an MA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.
Senior Advisor
David Thai is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company (VTI). Mr. Thai has spent the last 13 years devoting his time and resources, in the Vietnamese market, on developing and understanding the retail industry’s landscape, consumer segments, development trends, and cultures. Mr. Thai has played pivotal role in the growth, expansion, and strategic positioning of the Company’s Highlands Coffee brand. As a cultural symbol, Highlands Coffee has been instrumental in shaping Vietnam’s modern branding and retail environment.
Mr. Thai graduated from the University of Washington in 1995 with a double major in Business Administration and Comparative History of Ideas.
Senior Advisor
Mr. Wadsworth joined First Boston Corporation in 1963 and left when he was an Executive Vice President, Member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, Co-head of investment banking to join Morgan Stanley in 1978. During the 1980s, Mr. Wadsworth initiated the high tech banking practice, started the venture capital business and help organized the leverage buyout business at Morgan Stanley. In 1986, Mr. Wadsworth activated a seat on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and he grew the firm’s small business to over 500 people and profitability within his five year tenure in Japan. In 1991 Mr. Wadsworth became Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. When he retired in 2001, the firm had over 2000 people, 11 offices and over a billion dollars in revenue in Asia. Mr. Wadsworth is an Advisory Director of Morgan Stanley and Honorary Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.
Mr. Wadsworth is a graduate of Williams College and the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.
Senior Advisor
Mr. Walsh is a leading expert in the management and operations of securities companies. Mr. Walsh spent 23 years at Morgan Stanley in various departments including Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk Arbitrage and International Equities. During the last 12 years of his career, he was President of Morgan Stanley Capital International and President of Morgan Stanley Global Trust Company, Morgan Stanley's global custody businesses. Mr. Walsh is a private investor, officer, or advisor in the various private companies in the high technology industry in the US, Thailand, India, and China.
Mr. Walsh is a graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Business School and has studied at the London School of Economics.
