Panelists' Biographies

James L. Carruthers, Jr. is with Third Point Advisors, LLC. Previously, he was a founding partner at Eastbourne Capital Management. Jim joined the initial Eastbourne partners from their prior firm, Robertson-Stephens Investment Management (RSIM), in 1996, where he was a Principal. At Eastbourne, Jim's primary focus was the investigative due diligence surrounding many of firm's short sale positions, both in the routine and fraud-related varieties. Jim has also been involved with many of Eastbourne's investments in the biotech and pharmaceutical arena on the long side of the portfolio, and currently serves on the board of Advanced BioNutrition. For the five years prior to joining RSIM, and subsequently, Eastbourne, Jim was an independent securities analyst. From 1988 to 1990, Jim was an analyst and portfolio advisor with the Feshbach Brothers in Dallas. Prior to joining the investment business, Jim held senior management roles with information systems firms including Martin Marietta Data Systems division and American Management Systems. Jim received his BS in Business Administration from the University of Maryland and his MBA from The George Washington University.

Raymond Everett-Church, Esq., is an independent privacy consultant and advisor to start-up firms in the privacy and security fields. Called the "dean of corporate privacy officers" by Inter@ctive Week Magazine, he is an internationally recognized expert on privacy law and Internet-related public policy. In 1999, he became the world’s first chief privacy officer, creating a position that would be replicated at many Fortune 500 firms. A graduate of George Mason University and The George Washington University School of Law, Ray is co-author of Internet Privacy for Dummies and Fighting Spam for Dummies and a contributor to scholarly works such as The Internet Encyclopedia and the Handbook of Information Security. Everett-Church is also a columnist on privacy and security matters for the Jupiter Media syndicate and appears weekly on The David Lawrence Show on satellite radio. He serves on numerous corporate boards and advisory groups, including the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and the National Advisory Council of the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Larry Gritz works at NVIDIA Corporation where he is the chief architect and director of the engineering team for "Gelato," a software product for realistic 3D rendering used for animation and visual effects for film, CAD, scientific visualization, and game development. Gritz is co-founder of Exluna, Inc., a software company, which NVIDIA acquired in 2000. Prior to that, Gritz worked at Pixar Animation Studios, where he was, at various times, a lead developer of Pixar's rendering technology, a technical director on several films, and manager of an R&D group. Gritz received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a doctorate from The George Washington University, both in computer science. Gritz serves on the Advisory Board for Department of Computer Science at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Beth Loughney is a startup troubleshooter who consults with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on areas such as business planning and strategy, fundraising, governance, and operations. Until May 2005, she was the founder and general manager of the Digital Film group at NVIDIA Corporation, for which she was named one of Hollywood Reporter's 15 Most Innovative Thinkers in 2004. That business unit resulted from the acquisition of Exluna, a software start-up where Loughney served as president and CEO from its founding in 2000. Prior to Exluna, Loughney headed the Strategic Marketing Group at Open TV, an interactive television software and services company, and was a strategy consultant at The McKenna Group. Loughney has a master’s degree in National Security Policy Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies, both from The George Washington University.

Timothy S.H. Ome is managing director of Trenwith Securities, in San Jose. His career spans more than 20 years as an investment banker, management consultant, venture capitalist, and senior financial officer. Ome began his finance career with Lehman Brothers as an investment banker, rose to senior vice president and principal in the firm, and was recognized as being the key architect and executive who built Lehman Brother. At BancAmerica Securities, Ome was a managing director and head of, BancAmerica’s technology practice. Prior to joining Trenwith Securities as a managing director, Ome was with Genyous Biomed International, an early-stage oncology company as senior vice president for corporate development and investment banking. Ome received his bachelor’s degree in American studies and applied mathematics from the University of Hawaii. He also holds a graduate degree from the Japan America Institute of Management Science in Tokyo. He received his MBA with emphasis in finance and international business from The George Washington University Graduate School of Business and Public Policy.

Donald J. Polden, Esq., is Dean and Professor of Law at Santa Clara University. Previous to being appointed Dean in 2003, he served as Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Memphis. In addition, he served as Associate Dean and Professor of Law at Drake University School of Law. Don received a BBA in Economics from The George Washington University and a JD from Indiana University Law School. Don has participated in antitrust cases in the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court and has argued cases before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is co-author of Employment Relationships: Law and Practice, published by Aspen Publishing Company, and sole author of law review articles on topics of federal antitrust and securities law and legal education. Don was elected to membership in the American Law Institute, is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and was recently elected as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He also serves on standing committees of the American Bar Association's Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and the Association of American Law Schools.