Academic Panel Discussion

Professor Jette Steen Knudsen
Tufts University

Jette Steen Knudsen is Professor of Policy and International Business and holds the Shelby Collum Davis Chair in Sustainability. She has also been appointed as a Velux Fellow at Copenhagen Business School. Her research centers on the interface between government regulation and business actions with a particular focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She studies the ability of governments in economically advanced industrialized nations to promote social change through regulation of social practices of home country multinationals in developing countries.



Professor Judith Walls
University of St. Gallen (HSG)

Professor Judith Walls, PhD, is Chair for Sustainability Management at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). She is joined St. Gallen from Singapore, where she has served as Assistant Professor, Strategy Management and Organization at NTU's Nanyang Business School. With an academic career spanning eleven years, an extensive publication list, and several prestigious awards, Walls is fundamentally interested in obtaining a better understanding of corporate environmentalism and the impact it makes. Her research focus is on the interface of corporate governance and sustainability, investigating the factors that influence the environmental and social performance of companies.



Professor Cynthia Williams
Osgoode Hall Law School

Professor Cynthia Williams joined Osgoode Hall Law School on July 1, 2013 as the Osler Chair in Business Law, a position she also held from 2007 to 2009. Before coming to Osgoode, she was a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois College of Law and, prior to that, she practised law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City.

Professor Williams writes in the areas of securities law, corporate law, corporate responsibility, comparative corporate governance and regulatory theory, often in interdisciplinary collaborations with professors in anthropology, economic sociology, and organizational psychology.



Professor Pedro Matos
UVA Darden School of Business

Pedro Matos is an associate professor of finance at the UVA Darden School of Business. He co-teaches Investments and Valuations in Financial Markets at the Law School. Matos' research focuses on international corporate governance and the growing importance of institutional investors in financial markets worldwide. His work has been published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics and the Review of Financial Studies. It also has been featured in the press, including in The Economist, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fortune and Forbes. His work has received numerous research grants and awards, including the Wells Fargo Award for Outstanding Research Publication and the Darden Multiyear Publications Award. He is a research associate at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).




Professor Ruth Aguilera (Moderator)
Northeastern University

Ruth V. Aguilera is Darla and Frederick Brodsky Trustee Professor in Global Business at Northeastern University. She sits on the board of directors for the ICGS and Strategic Management Society, and is one of the most cited scholars in comparative corporate governance in the world. Her recent research focuses on corporate governance and environmental sustainability.