Advisory Board

David Byrne, former attorney general of Ireland, began his legal career at the Bar of Ireland and the European Court of Justice. From 1999 to 2004, Byrne, who specializes in constitutional and administrative law, served as European commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection at the EU in Brussels. In 2004, Byrne was appointed special envoy to the World Health Organization in Geneva, and the following year became a professor of law at University College Dublin. He currently serves as school chancellor at Dublin City University.

Andrew Card has had many and varied governmental roles during his career, including deputy assistant to the president and director of Intergovernmental Affairs under President Ronald Reagan, as well as U.S. secretary of transportation under President George H.W. Bush. After moving to the public sector, Card returned to the White House in January 2001. He served as chief of staff for President George W. Bush, a position he held until April 2006, giving him the second-longest term as White House chief of staff.

Anna Chennault, member emeritus, currently serves as chairman of CIC Inc. and trustee of The Anna C. Chennault Charitable Trust — two nonprofit organizations based in Washington. Chennault, a former journalist and war correspondent who was born in Beijing, has published nearly 50 books in both Chinese and English. She has received several awards, including the Freedom Award of the Order of Lafayette, the Freedom Award from the Free China Association, and the Award of Honor from the Chinese-American Alliance.

Admiral Vernon Clark, USN (Ret.), who once served as chief of Naval Operations, began his 37-year naval career as a lieutenant on a patrol gunboat. He retired from the Pentagon as a sitting member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2002. Recognized for his military service, Adm. Clark earned the Defense Distinguished Service Medal four times, the Navy Distinguished Medal three times, three Legion of Merit awards, and the Eisenhower Award from the Business Executives of North America. An active adviser, Adm. Clark currently serves on several boards of directors.

Keki Dadiseth, former chairman of Hindustan Unilever and former director of Unilever’s home and personal care operations worldwide, has an impressive record of leadership in India and internationally. Dadiseth is a trustee of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and a member of the managing committee, Breach Candy Hospital Trust. He is also on several boards of directors, including the Indian School of Business, as well as a member of the international advisory board of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., and a nonexecutive chairman of Omnicom India.

Shoichiro Irimajiri, who received an aerodynamic engineering degree from the University of Toyko, began his career with Honda Motor Company. Following two decades with Honda, he assumed executive level leadership for Sega Corporation. Under his watch, the video game software and hardware multinational launched the Dreamcast video game console, regarded by many as instrumental in pioneering online console gaming. Irimajiri, whose counsel continues to be sought by technology companies, currently chairs Japanese manufacturer Asahi Tec and serves on the board of directors of Delphi Automotive Systems.

Michael “Mickey” Kantor is a former member of President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, having served as U.S. secretary of commerce. Now an attorney in private practice, he advises corporate clients as a partner in the law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Kantor continues his commitment to public service by holding nonprofit board positions with Legal Services Corporation, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Center for Law in the Public Interest. He has received several distinguished awards in honor of his work, including the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award.

Dr. David Kessler, M.D., served as one of the most effective and influential commissioners for the Food and Drug Administration. Under his leadership, the FDA increased its drug approval process, forced greater regulation on tobacco manufacturers and implemented better nutrition labeling and preventive controls for food safety. Dr. Kessler, who continues to advise the federal government on health issues, is currently a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

General Barry McCaffrey (Ret.) served for more than five years as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Clinton administration. Under his leadership, the ONDCP developed the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy. Gen. McCaffrey teaches international security studies at the United States Military Academy and is frequently sought out as an adviser on issues of national security. The highly decorated general also works as a military analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and writes a regular column for the Armed Forces Journal.

John Onoda is a highly regarded communications specialist, having held executive-level positions with the Charles Schwab Corporation, Visa USA, General Motors and Levi Strauss & Co. Onoda also has served at the director level for McDonald’s global media relations and directed external communications for the Holiday Inn brand of hotels for InterContinental Hotels Group. The Arthur W. Page Society trustee also serves as a director for the San Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit dedicated to providing socially responsible business solutions to many of the world’s leading corporations.

Tom Ridge served as the first secretary of the Department of Global Security from 2003 until 2005. Before his role in the federal government, he was a six-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a twice-elected governor of Pennsylvania. Among his gubernatorial accomplishments are the Education Empowerment Act and the statewide Land Recycling Program. In 2005, following 22 consecutive years of public service, Ridge began work in the private sector as president and CEO of Ridge Global, a Washington-based advisory firm.

Guenter Verheugen has served as a member of the European Commission for more than a decade, most recently as European commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, making him one of only five vice presidents of the 27-member Barroso Commission. He began his political career in Germany’s Free Democratic Party, later switching to the Social Democratic Party and ultimately becoming minister of state in the German Foreign Ministry. And from 1999 to 2004, Verheugen managed the EU’s largest and most complex enlargement process.