November 2004

“Coping with a Volatile Economic Climate”
Read news release from Nov 17,2004 forecasting conference…

Conference Program

8:00 a.m. Registration & Coffee Fenwick Huss [read bio]
Dean and Professor of Accountancy
J. Mack Robinson College of Business
8:30 a.m. Words of Welcome
8:35 a.m. Oil Price Shock: Past, Present & Future »PDF icon
Oil has gone from BOOM to BUST to BOOM again. The key issue is if and when these current high oil prices will moderate. The long run implications for consumers, budget planners and the oil industry is another. Finally, which industries, surprisingly, would hate the moderation of oil price?		 Larry Kimbell [read bio]
Former Director and Professor Emeritus
UCLA Forecasting Project
8:55 am. IT – When’s the Next Boom? »PDF icon
Information technology (IT) seems to be the tip of the economic whip economic boom and bust cycles.  In response, student interest in US University IT programs has seen exaggerated swings up and down. With such swings, what advice should career advisors give to young people interested in IT?		 Richard Baskerville[read bio]
Professor and Chair
Department of CIS
9:15 a.m. What is Right with Health Care? »PDF icon
Healthcare is big business in Georgia and in the midst of a revolution. What’s wrong with US healthcare — and what’s right — will be examined, with particular emphasis on the Atlanta market.		 Timothy Stack [read bio]
President and CEO
Piemont Medical Center
9:35 a.m. Georgia’s High Performance Ports: Taking it to the Next Level »PDF icon
Over the past 15 years, business at the Port of Savannah has surged 290%, the fatest-growing port in the country.  Where will this growth go and how does it affect Georgia?		 Robert Morris [read bio]
Director of External Affairs
Georgia Ports Authority
9:55 a.m. Q & A
10:10 a.m. Refreshments Break
10:30 a.m. Forecast of the Nation, State and the Region Rajeev Dhawan [read bio]
Director
Economic Forecasting Center
J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University
11:30 a.m. Final Remarks and Q & A
11:40 a.m. Light Lunch and Networking
CANCELLATION POLICY: To cancel your registration and be eligble for a refund, call the Economic Forecasting Center at 404-413-7260 before 4pm the day before the conference. A stop payment of a check does not constitute a formal cancellation. Registrants who do not attend the conference and have not cancelled one day prior to the conference are liable for the entire registration fee but will be mailed conference materials.
SUBSTITUTION POLICY: If an annual subscriber cannot attend the conference, another person from the same company can substitute in the subscriber’s place.

Industry Speakers

Larry Kimbell
Former Director and Professor Emeritus
UCLA Forecasting Project
Larry Kimbell		 BIO- In 1999, Larry J. Kimbell retired from his position as Professor of Business Economics at the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, where he served on the UCLA faculty for over 33 years. For almost 25 years, he was Director of the UCLA Anderson Forecasting Project.

Dr. Kimbell’s consulting work has included research for the World Bank, the Bundesbank, the United Nations, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and San Francisco, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the United States Departments of Commerce, Treasury, etc.  He has also testified before the United States Congress.

Dr. Kimbell received a BA in Economics, with honors, from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Economics from The University of Texas, Austin.
Richard Baskerville
Professor and Chair
Department of CIS

Richard Baskerville

 BIO- Richard L. Baskerville is professor and chairman of the CIS Department in Georgia State University. His research and authored works regard security of information systems, methods of information systems design and development, and the interaction of information systems and organizations.  Baskerville is the author of Designing Information Systems Security (J. Wiley) and more than 100 articles in scholarly journals, practitioner magazines, and edited books.  He is an editor of The European Journal of Information Systems, and associated with the editorial boards of The Information Systems Journal and The Journal of Database Management.  He is a Chartered Engineer, holds a B.S. summa cum laude, from The University of Maryland, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from The London School of Economics.
Timothy Stack
President and CEO
Piemont Medical Center

Timothy Stack

 BIO- Since December 2001, R. Timothy Stack has served as President and CEO of Piedmont Medical Center, a not-for-profit organization, located in Atlanta, Georgia.  Piedmont Medical Center is the parent company of Piedmont Hospital, Fayette Community Hospital, Mountainside Medical Center, Piedmont Physicians Group, and the Piedmont Clinic.  In 2003, under Stack’s leadership, Piedmont Medical Center was a finalist in Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies”. In the same year, Piedmont Hospital was selected by Solucient (a nationally recognized healthcare information company) as one of the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals”. In July 2004, Fayette Community Hospital was also named by Solucient as one of the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals”.

Stack previously served as president and CEO of Borgess Health Alliance, President and CEO of South Side Healthcare System in Pittsburgh, and Senior Vice President and COO at Central Medical Center and Hospital in Pittsburgh. Stack served on the Board of the American Hospital Association from 1999 to 2001.

A native of Pittsburgh, Stack earned a B.A. from Bethany College and an M.A. in hospital administration from the Medical College of Virginia.
Robert Morris
Director of External Affairs
Georgia Ports Authority
Robert Morris		 BIO- Robert Morris is the Director of External Affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA). The GPA operates and maintains deepwater port facilities in Savannah, Brunswick and inland barge terminals in Bainbridge and Columbus.  Morris is responsible for the development, supervision and coordination of public and governmental affairs programs of the GPA.

Morris began his career as a staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has held several other positions in journalism, including metro editor of Atlanta Magazine, United Press International and The New Orleans Times-Picayune.  Prior to joining the GPA, Morris served as Director of Communications for the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

A native of Washington, D.C., Morris received his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Tulane University. His stories have been collected in many publications such as Inside the L.A. Riots and the Boston Phoenix.