10:50-12:00 PM

In the past few decades, Asia has risen to prominence in the global political and economic arena. The Asia Today plenary session features four distinguished leaders from government, business, and academia who will present their various perspectives on the forces that have shaped today’s Asia and the role that Asia plays in today’s global financial and political systems.

Tom Barry
CEO Founder, Zephyr Management
President and CEO of Rockefeller & Co.
President of T. Rowe Price New Horizons Funds, Inc.

Prior to founding Zephyr, Mr. Barry was President and CEO of Rockefeller & Co., the investment management arm of the Rockefeller family, from 1983 to 1993. Previously, Mr. Barry was employed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. from 1969 to 1982. Among other responsibilities, he was President of T. Rowe Price New Horizons Funds, Inc., then the largest mutual fund specializing in small capitalization companies. Mr. Barry received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1969 and an undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1966 where he majored in Latin American Studies. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Pierre Landry
Professor of Political Science
Director of Undergraduate Studies for International Studies Major

Pierre-François Landry, Associate Professor of Political Science, received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2000. He has been affiliated with the Research Center for Contemporary China since 1997. His research interests focus on Chinese politics, comparative local government, and quantitative comparative political analysis. He is currently writing a book tentatively titled "The CCP and Local Elites in Post-Deng China". Articles in progress include "Explaining Party Membership in Urban China" and "GPS sampling for social science survey research in China" based on an experiment in spatial sampling methodology that relies on the Geographical Positioning System to survey populations that are difficult to enumerate.

William C. McCahill
Vice Chairman, JL McGregor & Company;
Senior International Business Advisor, WilmerHale Charge d’Affairs;
US Embassy in Beijing, distinguished career in US Department of State’s Foreign Service since 1976

With a distinguished career in the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service and with China and government experience dating back to 1976, William C. McCahill, Jr. is an authority on Chinese government and politics. As former Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Mr. McCahill played a key role in concluding the 1999 WTO U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Agreement. In earlier phases of his China service he led political, commercial, and economic efforts in Hong Kong and Beijing, just as Sino-American diplomatic relations were normalized and China's economic reforms began. Before joining JL McGregor & Company, Mr. McCahill was the senior international business advisor of the law firm WilmerHale, where he helped foreign companies overcome the challenges and complexities of doing business in China. Client matters ranged from intellectual property rights protection and medical publishing to securing Chinese cabinet approval for a Fortune 100 company's investment in a flagship Chinese enterprise. In other diplomatic experience, Mr. McCahill ran the American missions in Oslo and Quebec, served as executive assistant to then NATO Secretary General Lord Carrington, and worked in the secretary of state's staff under Secretaries Haig and Shultz. Mr. McCahill speaks Chinese, French, and Norwegian, and has used those languages in numerous media appearances abroad. He holds an AB from Boston College and completed graduate studies in Sanskrit, South Asian studies, and the history of religion at Harvard University.

Yuen Pau Woo
President and Co-CEO
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Mr. Woo is President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He is Canada's representative on the Standing Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and is responsible for PECC's annual State of the Region report. Mr. Woo is on the management board of the National Centre of Excellence in Immigration Research at UBC and Simon Fraser University (Metropolis BC), and is an advisor to the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Centre and the Asian Development Bank. He is also on the International Advisory Council of the Asia Society in New York, a member of the Greater Vancouver Advisory Board for the Salvation Army, and a board member of the Mosaic Institute. Mr. Woo was born in Malaysia and grew up in Singapore. He was educated at Lester B. Pearson College, Wheaton College, the University of Cambridge, and the University of London. Mr. Woo has previously worked as a consultant on international marine affairs and as an economist for the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. In December 2008, Mr. Woo was appointed by the Premier of British Columbia to the province's Economic Advisory Council. Woo's Views on the Development of Asia