Ralph Washington Sockman was the senior pastor of Christ Church in New York City from 1916 to 1961. He gained national prominence as the featured speaker on the weekly NBC radio program, National Radio Pulpit, which aired from 1928 to 1962.

In 1961, Time reported that Sockman was generally acknowledged as the best Protestant preacher in the U.S.” He was also an esteemed author. Some of his titles include : The Paradoxes of Jesus (1936), Live for Tomorrow (1943), Date With Destiny; A Preamble To Christian Culture (1944), The Lord’s Prayer (1947), and How to Believe, Answering the Questions that Challenge Man’s Faith (1953).

David Steiner is president and chief executive officer for Waste Management. Prior to being elected president and CEO in March 2004, Mr. Steiner was Waste Management’s chief financial officer. Mr. Steiner joined Waste Management in November 2000 as vice president and deputy general counsel and was appointed senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in July 2001. In April 2003, he was elected CFO. He joined WM from Phelps Dunbar, a law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to that, he was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Jose, California. Steiner currently serves as a director of Tyco Electronics Corporation and FedEx Corporation.

Waste Management is the largest environmental solutions provider in North America, serving more than 20 million customers in the U.S. and Canada. As part of their strategy, Waste Management is committed to developing new waste solutions that can help communities and organizations achieve their green goals, including zero waste. Waste Management is also a renewable energy provider, producing more than twice the amount of renewable electricity than the entire US solar industry.

Clint Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Emma®, the digital marketing service that helps nearly 50,000 organizations around the world manage their email and social marketing in style – with best-in-class products, hands-on services and advice from Emma’s team of experts.

Emma employs 100 exceptionally talented employees in its Nashville, Portland and New York offices. The company made the Inc. 5,000 list three consecutive years and was recently enshrined in the “Future 50” Hall of Fame after making the list of Nashville’s fastest growing private companies five consecutive years. Emma has also been named an Inc. Magazine “Winning Workplace” and a Nashville Business Journal “Best Place to Work.”

Prior to founding Emma, Clint worked as an editor with CitySearch.com and in product development with Smallbusiness.com.

Eugene W. Stetson served as vice president and member of the executive committee of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. He was educated at Gordon Military Institute, Barnesville, Georgia, and at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. Upon completion of his education he began his banking career with the American National Bank of Macon, Georgia then became cashier of the Exchange National Bank of Fitzgerald, Georgia, then organized the Citizens National Bank at Macon, serving first as its cashier and later as president, when he was only twenty-eight years old. He served as president of the Macon Chamber of Commerce and helped organize the Georgia State Chamber of Commerce. He also served as arbitrator for the city of Macon when the city took over the water system from a private corporation.

Stetson was appointed to numbers of corporate boards, spanning a diverse set of industries including banking, insurance, manufacturing, petroleum, soft drinks, carbonation, sugar, textiles, machinery, automobiles, railroads, tobacco, drugs, baking and alcohol. Stetson was appointed to a mind-boggling number of corporate boards, spanning a diverse set of industries including banking, insurance, manufacturing, petroleum, soft drinks, carbonation, sugar, textiles, machinery, automobiles, railroads, tobacco, drugs, baking, and alcohol.

Established in 1984, Mercer University’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics is named for Eugene W. Stetson, a 1901 Mercer graduate and business pioneer who helped negotiate the first major leveraged buyout in corporate history.

Mark Suster is an American entrepreneur, angel investor and investment partner at Upfront Ventures (until June 2013 known as GRP Partners). He is a prominent blogger in the startup venture capital world and mentor at Techstars, a mentorship-driven seed stage investment fund.

Suster grew up in Northern California and is a dual citizen of both the United Kingdom and the United States. He graduated from University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He started his career as a programmer at Accenture, which later paid for a postgraduate Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

In 1999, with Ireland-based property entrepreneur Brian Moran, he founded his first company, a construction collaboration technology business called BuildOnline, where he was also chief executive officer. BuildOnline merged with US-based rival Citadon in December 2006 and the combined business, CTSpace, was acquired by the French Sword Group corporation a year later in December 2007. By this stage, Suster had already left the business, having founded a second company, a content collaboration software business, Koral. In April 2007, Koral was acquired by Salesforce.com where Suster took the role of Vice President, Product Management. He joined Upfront Ventures, an investment firm, later in 2007.

As an investor, Suster focuses on early-stage technology companies. They include: Affordit, DataSift, EagleCrest Energy, EcoMom, ExpenseCloud, Gendai Games, Osmo, MyTime, and LaughStub.

John H. Tyson was born on September 5, 1953 in Springdale, Arkansas. He is the son on Don and Jean Tyson and the grandson of John W. Tyson, the founder of Tyson Foods, Inc.

Tyson Foods Inc., founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork and the second-largest food company in the Fortune 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products, which are marketed under the “Powered by Tyson” strategy. Tyson is the recognized market leader in the retail and food service markets it serves, providing products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 80 countries. Tyson has approximately 114,000 team members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world.

After graduating from Springdale High School in 1971, John attended the University of Arkansas where in 1972 he was initiated into the Arkansas Alpha chapter. John later transferred to SMU where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. John has worked in the family business since his early teens and became a member of the board in 1984.

Today he is chairman of the board of Tyson Foods and has served in that capacity since 1998. Under John’s direction, Tyson Foods has emerged as the world’s largest protein-processing company largely on the strength of the 2001 acquisition of IBP, a giant processor of beef and pork.

That acquisition, engineered by John, accomplished a long time family goal – namely, to successfully diversify the company beyond the confines of the poultry business. By early 2003 Tyson Foods was producing roughly 25% of all the meat products consumed in the United States. Brother Tyson has been honored with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. He has been named Man of the Year by the Arkansas Poultry Industry, by the Arkansas Easter Seals and by the Art Center of the Ozarks. He was also named Humanitarian of the Year by the National Conference for Community and Justice.

John serves on numerous boards and committees including: Walden Woods Project, the Advisory Board for the Yale Center for Faith and Culure, University of Arkansas, and as Committee Chairman of the University of Arkansas Capital Campaign for the 21st Century.

Howard Morgens began his career at P&G in 1933 as a salesman, to later become chairman and then chief executive officer (1957 to 1974). During his tenure, the company shifted from a U.S. soap and shortening company in to a broadly diversified international business.

Morgens’ incredible leadership led to P&G’s extensive brand share, quadrupling sales, and revolutionary changes in TV advertising. Such efforts helped Mr. Morgens garner a multitude of honors and awards for his business and civic achievements.

He also helped to establish the Business Roundtable and served on numerous national civic, social service and education boards.

Will R. Manier, Jr. was one of Tennessee’s most impactful Rotarians. He was a charter member of the Nashville Rotary Club which was organized in 1913. He was President of the Nashville Club during the 1921-22 Rotary year, and District Governor during the 1923-24 year. Under his leadership many new Rotary clubs were established. He was named President of Rotary International for the 1936-37 year and served Rotary with great distinction. Until his death on January 31, 1953, he was recognized as one of the outstanding leaders of the Rotary world.

Rotarians in his home district approved plans for the Will R. Manier, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Awards at the April, 1956 District Conference. The first awards were given for the 1956-57 school year. Awards have been made annually since that time.

Lee R. Miskowski is an Advisor at Bradford Equities Management, L.L.C. Mr. Miskowski was a General Manager and Vice President at The Ford Motor Company from 1991 to 1994 with responsibility for the Lincoln-Mercury Division. From 1989 to 1991, he was a General Manager of the Parts and Service Division of Ford and was assigned in Europe. Mr. Miskowski was the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Hospice Michigan in 1998 and the Chairman of the Board of the firm from 1986 to 1998.

Chauncey J. Medberry III spent his entire career, besides his service in the second world war, as an employee of Bank of America. Medberry was named chairman of the bank and its parent company in 1971, and held that position until 1981.

During that period, he and A. W. Clausen, Bank of America’s president and chief executive, oversaw a significant expansion in the bank’s activities, particularly abroad. He was responsible for the merging of Bank of America national and international affairs, he created the strategic plan that the company would abide by over the course of their most profitable years, and many other contributions to the company.