PSD Council

Tom Barrett is head of Alternative Strategies at Chicago Trading Company (CTC), a privately held trading firm recognized as a leading provider of liquidity on numerous derivative exchanges globally. He was previously a Partner at Goldman Sachs where he worked in several different roles focused on electronic trading. He holds a BS from Northwestern University and an SM from the University of Chicago.

Bija Bennett is a globally respected thought leader in the wellness, yoga and lifestyle industry and founder of YogaAway, LLC, an international wellness company providing services for hospitality driven businesses, including Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. An author, speaker and consultant, she established the Bennett Family Award for Collaboration in the Science of Wellness, the Bennett Emerging Artists Fellowship at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and serves as an Ambassador and researcher at the Global Wellness Institute. Bija holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Benjamin Blander is a Managing Member at Radix Trading LLC, focusing on quantitative research and scientific trading. Radix is one of the most active liquidity providers on global electronic exchanges. Mr. Blander holds a PhD, MS, and BS in Mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Dan Bukowski is currently Managing Partner with Net Alpha Advisors LLC, a startup focused on investment consulting and secure warehousing of security trade and execution data. Over the past 30 years, Dan has served in various roles in institutional equity portfolio management with senior roles at Citigroup Asset Management, Travelers Investment Management Company and Zurich-Kemper Investments, as well as positions with IDS Financial Services and Morgan Stanley Asset Management. Dan holds an MBA in finance and an A.B. degree in Statistics from the University of Chicago.

Neil Chriss is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Hutchin Hill Capital, LP. Prior to founding Hutchin Hill in October 2007, Neil was a managing director at SAC Capital Management and a portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Additionally, he is a founding board member, and a member of the Executive Committee, of Math for America, a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve mathematics education in the United States. 

Bryan Daniels co-founded Prairie Capital in 1997 and currently serves as a Founding Partner, sharing overall management responsibility of the firm. Prairie Capital is a private equity group that partners with talented business owners and management teams. Prior to establishing Prairie, Mr. Daniels spent 17 years at American National Bank & Trust Company, now JP Morgan Chase. He supports two Chicago Area schools specializing in education for bright students with learning differences: Wolcott School and Hyde Park Day School.

Bill Eckhardt is the founder and CEO of Eckhardt Trading Company, specializing in futures trading and risk management. He has developed numerous technical trading systems applying ETC’s unique portfolio theory and evolutionary computing algorithms. Mr. Eckhardt earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from DePaul University and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Francisco Faraco is CEO & Founder of Faraco Partners, LLC, a firm that provides wealth management services to individuals, families, and corporations across the globe. He is also currently a part time teaching assistant with the Industry Perspective In-Residence program for graduate students in the Financial Mathematics program. Francisco holds an SM in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago (2004), an MA in Economics, with concentrations in Financial Economics and Economic Development Policies, from the American University (2002) in Washington, DC, and a BBA in Banking & Finance from Universidad Metropolitana (1999) in Caracas.

Fisk Johnson is Chairman, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of SC Johnson, which he has been part of since 1987. He also serves on the Consumer Goods Forum Board of Directors and the President’s Advisory Council on Trade Policy and Negotiation. Mr. Johnson has his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics, two master’s degrees in physics and engineering physics, MBA, and PhD in physics from Cornell University.

Arthur Kelly is Managing Partner and one of the Founders at KEL Enterprises LP, a private equity firm based in Chicago. He previously served as Senior Partner at the management consulting firm A. T. Kearney Inc. Mr. Kelly received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and he is an Emeritus Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Kerr, PHD ‘95 (Chemistry)

Steven Kersten is President of WaterSaver Faucet Company, the largest manufacturer of faucets, valves, and products for science laboratories. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a JD from the University of Chicago. Mr. Kersten is a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Bo Lu is the former chairman and CEO of the Industrial Technology Investment Corporation - a translational technology investment company. Dr. Lu currently serves as facilitator and Board Director of a Taiwan and Japan joint venture capital fund that specializes in the incubation of technology startups. 

Walter E. Massey is an educator, physicist, executive, and former Argonne National Laboratory Director. He is president emeritus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) since 2018 and previously served as its president beginning in 2010 and chancellor in 2016. Mr. Massey’s career had earlier seen him serve for 12 years as president of Morehouse College, of which he is now President Emeritus. He is also a former director of the National Science Foundation and chairman of Bank of America. He has served in professorial and administrative posts at the University of California, Brown University, and the University of Illinois, as well as currently serving as senior advisor to the president and emeritus trustee of the University of Chicago.

John McCarter retired as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Field Museum in 2012, where he remains a Life Trustee and President Emeritus. He formerly served as Senior Vice President of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc. Mr. McCarter received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, earned an MBA from Harvard University, and attended the London School of Economics. He is an Emeritus Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Kjersten Margaret Moody is Chief Data Officer at Prudential Financial responsible for the enterprise data and analytics function and emerging technologies. She has held a variety technology leaderships roles State Farm, Unilever based in London, UK, Thomson Reuters, and FICO. Kjersten holds a BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago, IL and has been recognized as one of the top data professionals in the U.S. and UK.

After 30 years with Morningstar, Catherine Odelbo retired in June 2018. As the firm’s first Strategy Officer, she was responsible for driving firm value. Ms. Odelbo also managed several businesses for the firm, including launching and developing Morningstar’s equity and credit research business, Morningstar.com. She is the Morningstar representative on the board of start-up Ellevest and a Trustee of the Chicago Architecture Center. She has AB and MBA degrees with several honors from the University of Chicago.

Anne Petersen is the founder and president of Global Philanthropy Alliance, a foundation providing grants to young entrepreneurs in Africa. She was the senior vice president of programs for the WK Kellogg Foundation, served as the deputy director and chief operations officer of the National Science Foundation, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Anne has had a highly distinguished career as faculty and administrator at the University of Chicago, Stanford University, University of Minnesota and Pennsylvania State University.

Nick Pritzker is co-founder of Tao Capital Partners, which invests in technology, alternative energy and transportation, healthcare, education, sustainable food and agriculture, consumer, and real estate businesses. He formerly served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Hyatt Development Corporation.

Colin Rust is a Quantitative Portfolio Manager with Cubist Systematic Strategies. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a SM and PhD in Mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Richard Schaar is the former Executive Advisor to the Public Affairs Office of Texas Instruments, Incorporated (TI). In this capacity, Dr. Schaar advised TI and its customers in the areas of math and science education policy. He has also served as Senior Vice President of Texas Instruments, Incorporated and as President of TI’s Education and Productivity Solutions business, which he led to a leadership position in educational technology and professional development.

Yuji Suzuki is the Founder and Chairman & Group CEO of Tri-Wall Limited. The company operates globally, specializing in providing heavy-duty packaging materials and logistics related solution services. Mr. Suzuki earned a MS in Statistics from the University of Chicago. He married Lorraine R. Suzuki, also a graduate student in SSA at the University of Chicago. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and educated up to senior high school in Japan. He previously served as a member of the PSD Council for 12 years from 2007 to 2019.

C.C. Tsai is CTO and President of E Ink Holdings in Taiwan, where she has advanced electrophoretic display (EPD) technology, and strengthened the leadership position of E Ink in the global electronic paper market, including applications in electronic book readers and shelf labels. Dr. Tsai previously held various senior-level positions at AKT, an Applied Material Company and Quanta Display Inc. She was appointed professor of the Department of Photonics of the National Chiao-Tung University in 2007.

Mihir Worah was CIO Asset Allocation and Real Return and a managing director in PIMCO’s Newport Beach office. He is a member of the Investment Committee and the Executive Committee, and oversees portfolio management for the U.S. Prior to joining PIMCO, Mr. Worah was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of California, Berkeley. He has 18 years of investment experience and holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Chicago.

Bing Zhao was recently chief financial officer and a director of China Mineral Acquisition Corp. since 2004. He is also a co-founder and has been a director of Capital Bridge Investment Ltd., a Chinese company specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and distressed debt financing in China. Bing grew up in China and received a BS in mechanical engineering from China University of Science and Technology, before receiving a master’s degree in applied mathematics from IIT and a PhD from Columbia University.