Julie Andrews is an internationally acclaimed star of stage, film and television. Among her many well-known stage roles are Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Queen Guinevere in Camelot and Maria in The Sound of Music. Her films include Thoroughly Modern Millie, Star, Hawaii, Tom Curtain, Darling Lili, The Tamarind Seed, 10, S.O.B., That's Life, Victor/Victoria, Duet for One, Relative Value and The Princess Diaries. She has starred in many television programs and films.

Ms. Andrews has also authored a number of children's books under the name of Julie Edwards and written a series of other children's books with her daughter Emma and in 2008 published an autobiography, "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years".

Ms. Andrews has been active on behalf of a number of major charities, including Operation USA, UNICEF and Save the Children; she served as Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM in 1992. She has received innumerable awards and honors, including Golden Globe Awards, Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Award and British Academy for Film and Television Arts Special Tribute Award. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2000 and was honored at The John F. Kennedy Center for the 24th annual national celebration of the arts in 2001. In 2006 she received the Life Achievement Award of the Screen Actors Guild.

John Ward is Co-Director of the Center for Family Enterprises at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, teaching and studying strategic management, business leadership and family enterprise continuity. Recognized as a leading authority in this field, Dr. Ward is an active researcher, speaker and consultant on succession, ownership, governance and philanthropy. Dr. Ward is also the Wild Group Professor of Family Business at IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland) and is a regular visiting lecturer at Bocconi University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, IESE and The Stockholm School.

Dr. Ward is currently a Director of the McGaw (Evanston) YMCA, The Family Institute of Northwestern University and a founding Director of the Justin Wynn Youth Leadership Fund and is the founder of a girls soccer club.

Dr. Ward received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his MBA and Ph.D. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.