Merit and Biographies

David M. Cote - 2016 Lifetime Achievement Leadership Award

David Cote – Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, a $40 billion diversified technology and manufacturing leader with 130,000 employees serving customers worldwide in aerospace; control for buildings, homes and industry; and performance materials. During Cote's fourteen years of leadership, Honeywell has delivered growth in sales, earnings, segment profit, cash flow, and a total shareowner return of more than 400 percent.

Cote is director to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, co-chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum since 2009, and has won many awards such as one of the World’s Best CEOs by Barron’s (2013-2016). BA degree in business administration (University of New Hampshire). Honorary degrees from UNH, Beijing, China and Pepperdine University.   

Charles Bolden - 2016 Science Involvement Leadership Award

Major General Charles F. Bolden, Jr. – NASA Administrator since 2009. At the U.S. Naval Academy, he earned a B.S. degree in electrical science in 1968. He became a Marine Corps Naval Aviator and flew over 100 combat missions (1972-73). He later earned a systems management M.S. degree from the University of Southern California. As an astronaut, he flew four NASA Shuttle missions. He helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope that unveiled the secrets of the Universe and commanded the first Russian-USA Shuttle mission. He held the positions of Deputy Commanding General of the US Forces in Japan and Commanding General of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing at Miramar in San Diego.

The programs that Bolden has directed at NASA include the launch of the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter, the landing the Curiosity rover in Mars, and the development of the X-plane—the quiet, green and supersonic aircraft—by 2020, among many others. Bolden has overseen the intrepid transformation of NASA in the last few years to rely on commercial space programs, human travel to Mars and an asteroid, and exploring the edge of the solar system.

Len Blavatnik - 2016 Historic Industrial Investment Leadership Award

Len Blavatnik – Access Industries Founder and Chairman. American Industrialist and Philanthropist. As a Lyondell-Basell key shareholder, his investment in the company turned into one of the greatest deals in Wall Street history. He has global interests in natural resources & chemicals, technology & e-commerce, media & telecommunications, and real estate. Incorporated in 1986,

Access Industries’ strategic investments include UC RUSAL (the world’s largest vertically integrated aluminum producer) and Warner Music Group, a leading music company. He sits on boards at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Tel Aviv universities as well as corporate and charitable organizations including the Blavatnik Family Foundation. He received his Master’s degree from Columbia University and his MBA from Harvard.

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu - 2016 Extraordinary Innovation Leadership Award

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu – Solvay CEO and Board Member since May 2012. Previous positions held include Rhodia’s CEO and Chairman, and President of Rhodia Chemicals Latin America. Before joining the chemical industry, Clamadieu, a graduate from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, served as advisor to the Minister of Labor.

Clamadieu has been a visionary industry innovation leader and a premier sponsor of the revolutionary Solar Impulse Aircraft Program. He is President of the European Chemical Industry Council, Board member of the International Chemical Industry Council, as well as member of the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is a Board member of Faurecia and Axa. He was Chairman of the Franco-Brazilian Business Council of MEDEF International.