SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
In order of appearance:
Thursday June 20:
Bryan T. Durkin, Chief Operating Officer, CME Group
Bryan T. Durkin has served as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Managing Director, Products & Services of CME Group since February 2010. He is responsible for the company's Products & Services, Global Operations, Technology and Enterprise Computing, and Enterprise Solutions Divisions. Previously, he served as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer since July 2007. He also led the company’s global integrations following CME’s merger with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in 2007 and CME Group’s acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 2008.
Before joining CME Group, Durkin served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the CBOT. Prior to that role, he was in charge of the CBOT’s Office of Investigations and Audits where he oversaw the audits, financial surveillance, trade practice and market surveillance self-regulatory and enforcement divisions for the exchange. His career with both CME Group and CBOT spans more than 25 years.
Durkin holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA from Lewis University. He has been an adjunct faculty member of Lewis University’s MBA program, teaching courses in organizational behavior and management. He is a member of the COMEX Governors Committee and a Director of the CME Group Community Foundation.
David D. Lehman, Managing Director of Commodity Research and Product Development, CME Group
David Lehman is a Managing Director in the Research and Product Development Division of CME Group. Lehman is responsible for leading efforts to identify and develop new CME Group product and services opportunities related to both exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, maintaining viability of current product offerings and providing strategic insight into new markets, business development and research within the commodity space. Prior to joining the company in 1989, Lehman held the position of Industry Economist with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland.
Richard Feltes, Vice-President, Research, RJ O’Brien
Rich Feltes is Vice President Research at R.J. Obrien headquartered in Chicago. Prior to joining RJO in October 2010, Rich directed Commodity Research at MF Global for 5 years and at Refco for 21 years. Rich is well known for his fact-filled presentations on the outlook for agricultural prices. He is frequently quoted in the media and serves as a program advisor to USDA’s annual Outlook Forum. Feltes is an eleven-year veteran of Continental Grain Company (1973-1984). He spent three years as a cash merchant, and the balance as Senior Crop Scout responsible for estimating North and South American crop production. Feltes is a 1970 agricultural graduate of the University of Illinois and earned an MBA from Southern Illinois University in 1972. Feltes received an Award of Merit from Illinois’ College of Agriculture in 2007 for professional achievement and service to his community and the University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Commodity Markets Council.
Joseph W. Glauber, Chief Economist, USDA
Joseph Glauber currently serves as Chief Economist at the Department of Agriculture (USDA). As Chief Economist, he is responsible for the Department's agricultural forecasts and projections and for advising the Secretary of Agriculture on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations, and legislative proposals. He is responsible for the Office of the Chief Economist, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit analysis, the Global Change Program Office, the Office of Environmental Markets, and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
From 1992 to 2007, Dr. Glauber served as Deputy Chief Economist at the USDA. In 2007 he was named the Special Doha Agricultural Envoy at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative where he served as chief agricultural negotiator in the Doha talks until January 2009. In addition to his work in the Doha negotiations, he served as economic adviser at the so-called Blair House agreements leading to the completion of the Uruguay Round negotiations. He is the author of numerous studies on crop insurance, disaster policy and U.S. farm policy. He has also served as senior staff economist for agriculture, natural resources and trade at the President's Council of Economic Advisers and as an economist at the Economic Research Service, USDA.
Dr. Glauber received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 and holds an AB in anthropology from the University of Chicago. In 2012, he was elected Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
David Hightower, President, The Hightower Report
David Hightower is a founding principal of The Hightower Report ( a commodity research and information firm specializing in high quality futures research and analysis for individual investors, brokers, commercial producers, farmers and end users. The Hightower Report publishes one of the most widely read daily commodity wires in the world and has become a highly utilized industry consulting service with many brokerage firms turning to it for their primary commodity research coverage. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the world’s largest futures exchange) has sent Mr. Hightower to Europe, South America, India and China to promote Agricultural futures trading, to introduce electronic trading and to educate foreign governments and traders on advanced risk management techniques. Mr. Hightower is also a keynote speaker favorite for 8 major Futures Clearing Merchants, with seed, implement and food manufacturing companies also turning to Mr. Hightower for his high impact analysis of current market conditions. In almost every instance, Mr. Hightower earns a return invitation from his speaking venues.
A keen eye on the complex interaction of the world markets insures that Mr. Hightower thoroughlyexamines the financial, agricultural and geopolitical situations around the globe. This in turnallows his company to provide analysis and commentary on a wide variety of markets, rangingfrom grains, livestock, precious metals, stock indices, bonds, currencies and the energy complex.
Prior to the inception of The Hightower Report, Dave was the Director of Research at what wasthen the world's largest commodity brokerage firm. In total he has almost 30 years of experiencein nearly every aspect of the futures industry. Mr. Hightower is thoroughly versed in the complex interaction of the world markets and globalbusinesses, and his closeness to the markets is evidenced in his direct and opinionated analysis.
Because of his expertise, Dave has regularly appeared on CNN, Bloomberg Television andONN.tv and is often cited in Wall Street Journal, Futures Magazine, Reuters and many otherindustry publications. He has conducted extensive work with regulatory agencies, exchanges andother industry players on a wide range of research and trading projects and is often called uponby the CME Group to provide their expertise on the markets. Dave's infectious enthusiasm shinesthrough and has made him a highly sought-after speaker for industry events.
NickKouchoukos, Head of Agriculture and Weather Research and Forecasts, Lanworth ThomsonReuters
NickKouchoukos is Head of Agriculture and Weather Research and Forecasts at Thomson Reuters Lanworth.Trained ingeography and the socialsciences, has twenty years’ experience in the application of satelliteimagery andagronomic models to monitoring crop production worldwide. Prior tojoining Lanworth, Dr. Kouchoukos held facultypositions at The University ofChicago and the University of Alabama and conducted extensive field research onagricultural geography and history in the Middle East, South America, andEurope. Dr. Kouchoukos was educated atYale University.
Lonn Taffel,Senior Vice President - Commodity Analyst, ABN AMRO Clearing, The Matthews Group
Based in Chicago, Lonn Taffel is in his 25th year in the commodities business. Mentored by his brother Craig Taffel, Lonn began as a runner and assistant to analyst Dale Gustufson in 1987 with Drexel Burnham Lambert. Lonn moved to Smith Barney/Citigroup where he spent 18 years before moving to Cadent Financial in Mar 2006 and then to Abn Amro Clearing in 2008. Raised in Milwaukee, Wi, Lonn attended the University of Wisconsin where he majored in Economics and played baseball. Lonn and his lovely wife Nadia have two boys Noah (15) and Jonah (11). Lonn is an avid and loyal follower of the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and Wisconsin Badgers.
Paul Dubravec, Vice-President/Commodity Merchandising Risk Management, Advance Trading, Inc
Born and raised in a small rural farming town in Illinois, his interest in agriculture began early in life as he spent a great deal of time working on various agricultural operations in the area. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with a Bachaelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics/ Agribusiness Management, he began his career with a large multinational food and commodity trading firm. As a merchandiser of specialty grains and feed ingredients, he was actively involved in a profitable P&L with both trading and logistic authority and responsibilities.
For the past 18 years, Paul has been with Advance Trading, Inc. working as a Commercial Broker/ Commodity Merchandising Consultant. Advance Trading, Inc. is a premier Agricultural risk management firm assisting all facets of agriculture in managing price and volatility risk as well as assisting clients in maximizing merchandising profits. Though based in the US, Advance is actively involved in global agriculture with active clients and relationships in over seven countries. Paul has grown his business in the grain warehousing and elevator sector, and the end user sector. His client base consists of many U.S. firms as well as international clients. In addition to keeping his clients informed of current fundamentals and market analysis both in the futures and cash markets, he spends time daily analyzing each client’s risk in order to develop and implement prudent risk management strategies. Dialogue with clients to define their operational risk with regards to volatile commodity markets, hedge placement, space considerations, logistics, or buy/sell basis activity are just a few points Advance works with daily to serve each client’s needs and goals.
Paul is active member and Board member in both professional and personal interest organizations including state and national agriculture trade associations. He currently serves as Secretary/Vice President on the Board of Directors for Advance Trading, Inc, the board of Risings Stars Academy Inc., the Advisory Board of Directors for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and the Corporate Capital Campaign Committee. He has been an active participant on various grain association and trade group committees and boards. Paul remains active in many philanthropic organizations both locally and internationally. Paul and his wife Teresa have three children, and reside in Bloomington, Illinois – home to Advance Trading, Inc. corporate headquarters.
Michael McCully, President, The McCully Group, LLC
Mike McCully owns The McCully Group, a consulting firm that works with dairy and food companies on business analysis, purchasing strategies, commodity risk management, and other supply chain issues. Mike worked for over 15 years at Kraft Foods where he held management roles in dairy, meat, and grain purchasing.
Throughout his career at Kraft, Mike worked on many dairy industry issues and served on the Board of Directors for International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) Milk Industry Foundation and the Dairy Institute of California. He has been a member of IDFA’s Legislative Oversight Committee, IDFA’s Farm Bill Committee, the National Cheese Institute’s Economic Policy and Legislative Committee, and the California Dairy Institute’s Producer Relations committee.
Mike grew up on a grain and beef cattle farm in north central Illinois and remains active in the beef cattle industry through his partnership in a purebred Angus operation. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Western Illinois University and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.
Karl D. Skold, Director of Economic Analysis, Bunge North America
Karl Skold is the Director of Economic Research for Bunge North America. He leads the development of North American agricultural supply & demand estimates. Prior to joining Bunge, he was the founder of Westside Economics a consulting firm with clients that included food processing companies, restaurant chains, financial institutions, and meat packers.
Prior to Westside, Skold was Vice President of Commodity Procurement and led the commodity risk management and procurement efforts for ConAgra Foods. Before joining ConAgra, he was the Director of Research for Frontier Risk Management, a Chicago based brokerage and money management firm that specializes in agricultural commodities.
Skold has a M.S. and Ph.D. from Iowa State University in Agricultural Economics. He holds a B.S. degree from Colorado State University in Economics.
Jimmy Connor, Senior Vice President, RJ O’Brien
After graduating from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in German Literature and the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Glendale, Arizona, matriculating with a Masters of International Management, Jimmy embarked on an extensive commercial trade tenure with Continental Grain Company for approximately ten years and Harvest States Cooperatives (CHS) for four years, eventually leading to team risk management responsibilities for domestic and export feedgrains and oilseeds, including asset infrastructure expansion.
Thereafter and for the past 17 years, Jimmy has worked with RJ O’Brien & Associates LLC as a futures broker; helping clients around the world more clearly determine price transparency in physical markets, define relationships between cash and futures, in order to rationally assess hedge efficacy as well as opportunistic risks associated with trade deployment in the US derivative space.
Jimmy was raised in a rural agricultural and dairy production region of west central Minnesota.
Charles P. Carey, Former Vice Chairman and Board Member, CME Group, and Chairman, Commodity Markets Council
Charles P. Carey served as Vice Chairman of CME Group from July 2007 to May 2010 and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Previously, he served as Chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) from 2003 to 2007 and as a member of the CBOT Board of Directors for 11 years in various roles, including Vice Chairman, First Vice Chairman and Full Member Director. Carey currently serves as Chairman of the Commodity Markets Council (CMC) which is industry association of major commodity market participants and exchanges.
An independent futures trader, Carey became a member of CBOT in 1978 and is a partner in the firm Henning and Carey. He also serves on the Board of Directors of BM&FBOVESPA, the largest exchange company in Latin America.
In addition to playing a leading role in the CME/CBOT merger to form CME Group, Carey spearheaded the transformation of CBOT, a member run institution for more than 155 years, into a for-profit, NYSE-listed public company in 2005.
Carey has received a number of civic, industry and community service awards. In 2007, he was presented with the Oak Park and River Forest High School Tradition of Excellence Award, and earlier that year, with the Western Illinois University Distinguished Alumni Award for his business and professional accomplishments. Other awards include the Rerum Novarum Award from St. Joseph College Seminary, Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, and the Gold Medallion Award from the International Visitors Center of Chicago. In addition, Carey is President of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, an organization that is very active in providing scholarships for underprivileged youths.
A lifelong resident of Chicago, Carey received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Illinois University.
Marina Denicoff, Economist, USDA Transportation and Marketing, Grain Transportation Report
As an economist and team leader at USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Marina leads projects and reports to provide quantitative analysis and actionable advice to agricultural shippers and policy makers on the impact agricultural market developments and policy changes may have on agricultural transportation demand and costs. She has over 20 years of extensive applied economic analysis experience in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining USDA-AMS, she served as the chief editor of USDA’s Faculty Exchange Program publications written in Russian; as a contributor to a daily commodity analysis and trade newsletter; as an economist with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in the area of commodity analysis and emerging markets trade and policy analysis; and, as a commodity analyst in a major agribusiness firm.
Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director, Soy Transportation Coalition
Mike Steenhoek is executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), an initiative established in 2007 and comprised of the United Soybean Board, the American Soybean Association, and eleven state soybean boards. The Soy Transportation Coalition exists to promote a cost effective, reliable, and competitive transportation system that serves the agriculture industry.
As executive director of the STC, Mike’s responsibilities include communicating the initiative and the importance of transportation issues to soybean growers and processors; establishing and executing the organization’s strategic direction; and building collaborations with other effected industries.
Mike is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Inland Water Transportation, and the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Freight Advisory Council.
Prior to his work on the STC, Mike worked for United States Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) for eight years – both in Washington, DC, and most recently in Des Moines, Iowa. In Washington, DC, Mike served as the Senator’s scheduler and frequent speechwriter. In Des Moines, Mike served as Senator Grassley’s director of economic development.