Economic Club of Minnesota

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Foreign Affairs columnist for The New York Times Thomas L. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and, columnist—the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of six bestselling books, among them From Beirut to Jerusalem and The World Is Flat. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in St. Louis Park. His most recent book is Thank...

  Omar Ishrak has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic since June 2011. Medtronic is the world's leading medical technology company, with $29 billion in annual revenue, and operations reaching more than 160 countries worldwide. Medtronic offers technologies and solutions to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including cardiac and vascular diseases, respiratory, neurol...

During David Farr's 16-plus years leading Emerson, the company has steadily transformed from a diversified manufacturing conglomerate into a highly focused global enterprise that provides innovative technology and service solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and residential markets. Such was the case in 2016 as Farr led a number of strategic initiatives that again reshaped the compan...

Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, the 12th President of the Republic of Finland, was inaugurated on 1 March 2012. Sauli Niinistö was born in Salo on 24 August 1948 and graduated from the University of Turku with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1974. He served as a rural police chief and as an assistant judge at the Turku Court of Appeal. He practiced law as an attorney and gained experience of corporate admini...

Dr. Loretta Mester President & CEO Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland As president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Loretta J. Mester participates in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and oversees 950 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, and provide payment services to commercial...

The Board of the Directors of the Economic Club of Minnesota instituted the Economic Club's Champion of Free Trade Award in 2014. This is the only national award for contributions for expanding free trade. The intention of the board was to develop an award that would honor individual national and international leaders who have made significant contributions to the expansion of international trade....

Dr. John H. Noseworthy is president and chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic, a not-for-profit organization operating in five states that is dedicated to medical care, research and education. Every year, more than a million people from all 50 states and nearly 150 countries come to Mayo Clinic for care. Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Noseworthy served as chair of Mayo Clinic's Department...

Richard H. Anderson served as Executive Chairman of the Delta Air Lines, Inc. Board of Directors until October 11, 2016. Richard previously served nine years as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Delta. Under Richard's leadership, Delta emerged from bankruptcy and became the most profitable, investment grade airline in the world. Anderson also served as Chief Operating Officer of Northwes...

Richard Davis is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, headquartered in Minneapolis, with more than $438 billion in total assets and businesses across the United States, Canada and Europe. Davis has been an influencing force in the banking industry for 38 years. He began his banking career as a teller at age 18. In 2006, he became CEO of U.S. B...

Stephen Moore, who formerly wrote on the economy and public policy for The Wall Street Journal, is the senior economic contributor for FreedomWorks. He is also a Fox News Contributor.  Stephen previously served as president of the Club for Growth and chief economist of the Heritage Foundation.  He served as a senior economic advisor to President-elect Trump's campaign this year. Moore's early care...

National Editor The Cook Political Report  Amy Walter is the National Editor of The Cook Political Report where she provides analysis of the issues, trends and events that shape the political environment. Her weekly column appears at CookPolitical.com. Over the past 14 years, Amy Walter has built a reputation as an accurate, objective, and insightful political analyst with unparalleled access to c...

Chairman  House Ways & Means Committee Congressman Kevin Brady is Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee - - considered by many to be the most powerful committee in Congress with jurisdiction over taxes, health care, Social Security, Medicare, international trade and welfare.   Rep. Brady will be leading the efforts to pass comprehensive tax reform and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) f...

< Neel Kashkari took office as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on Jan. 1, 2016. In this role, he serves on the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing the Fed's Ninth District's perspective to monetary policy discussions in Washington. In addition to his responsibilities as a monetary policymaker, Kashkari oversees all operations of the bank, includ...

Michael Froman was sworn in as the 11th United States Trade Representative (USTR) on June 21, 2013. As USTR, he is President Obama’s principal advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on international trade and investment issues. Ambassador Froman leads the Office of the United States Trade Representative in its work to open global markets for U.S. goods and services, enforce America’s rights in the g...

Brian Cornell is board chairman and CEO of Target Corp. He is responsible for Target’s global business, including more than 1,800 U.S. stores and Target.com, more than 347,000 team members and millions of guests. Cornell leads the retailer’s executive leadership team in accelerating Target’s performance, advancing its digital evolution and delivering on its “Expect More. Pay Less.” promise to gues...

Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. He is a prolific thought leader and author, regularly expressing his views on political issues in public speeches, television appearances, and top publications, including Time magazine, where he is the foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large. Dubbed the "rising guru" in...

David MacLennan, Chairman & CEO of Cargill, Inc. Chris Policinski, President & CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc. James “Joc” O’Rourke, President & CEO of the Mosaic Company Doug Baker, Chairman of CEO of Ecolab, Inc. Moderator for Panel I & Panel II:Alan Bjerga, Agricultural Policy Reporter for Bloomberg News

Greg Page, Executive Director of Cargill, Inc. Jeffrey Harmening, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of General Mills Jeffrey Ettinger, Chairman, President & CEO of Hormel Foods Sally Smith, CEO & President of Buffalo Wild Wings Moderator for Panel I & Panel II: Alan Bjerga, Agricultural Policy Reporter for Bloomberg News  

John B. Taylor is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He formerly served as the Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research where he is currently a Senior Fellow. He is also the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution. Taylor’s fields of expertise are monetary policy, fiscal policy, and international economics...

William C. Dudley became the 10th president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on January 27, 2009. In that capacity, he serves as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy. Previously, Mr. Dudley served as executive vice president of the Markets Group at...

Governor General David Johnston is The Queen’s representative in Canada and exercises the duties of Head of State. Since being sworn in as Canada’s 28th Governor General in October 2010, he has traveled on behalf of Canada to Europe, India, China, Brazil, and the United States as a leading speaker on education, innovation and trade. David Johnston began his professional career as an assistant prof...

Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda was appointed the 31st Governor of the Bank of Japan on March 20, 2013. He started his career at the Ministry of Finance in Japan in 1967. In the early years, he was seconded to the International Monetary Fund as Advisor to the Executive Director. His responsibilities at the Ministry encompassed fields such as international finance and national and international tax as well as...

Bill Frenzel Champion of Free Trade Award Carla A. Hills is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Hills & Company. Ambassador Hills served as U.S. Trade Representative (1989-93) in the Bush (41) Administration and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, in the Ford Administration. Over the years, Ambassador Hills has ser...

Jay Timmons is president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest manufacturing association in the United States representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector. He became NAM president in January 2011. Mr. Timmons is a leading advocate for the nearly 12 million men and women who make things in America, educating the public and policymakers on i...