Keynotes

Tuesday 27 January:

Cisco Keynote: The opening keynote session at Cisco Networkers 2009, Barcelona will be presented by John Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cisco.

Guest Keynote: Brian Cox, a Professor of Particle Physics, at the University of Manchester will take the stage at 14.30 in the auditorium. Brian Cox is currently working on the ATLAS experiment at CERN in Geneva. We are delighted to have him present at Cisco Networkers 2009, Barcelona

John T. Chambers
Chairman and Chief Executive
Cisco

John Chambers is Chairman and CEO of Cisco. He has helped grow the company from $70 million when he joined Cisco in January 1991, to $1.2 billion when he assumed the role of CEO, to its current run-rate of approximately $40 billion. In November 2006, Chambers was named Chairman of the Board, in addition to his CEO role.

Chambers has received numerous awards for his leadership over his past 13 years at the helm of Cisco, including: Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People," one of Barron's' "World's Best CEOs," the "Best Boss in America" by 20/20, one of BusinessWeek's "Top 25 Executives Worldwide," "CEO of the Year" by Chief Executive Magazine, the Business Council's "Award for Corporate Leadership," and "Best Investor Relations by a CEO" from Investor Relations Magazine three times. During his tenure as CEO, Cisco has been named to Fortune's "America's Most Admired Company" list seven times, BusinessWeek's "Top 50 Performers" list six times, Forbes' "Leading Companies in the World," and is one of the top 10 places to work in the U.S., China, Germany, France, India, UK, Australia, Singapore and several other countries.

In addition, Chambers has been widely recognized for his and Cisco's philanthropic leadership, recently receiving the first-ever Clinton Global Citizen Award from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. State Department's top corporate social responsibility award from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He has also been awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, and the prestigious Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award, an award given by CEOs to their CEO peers.

Chambers takes an active role in corporate social responsibility initiatives worldwide, which most recently includes forming a public-private partnership to help rebuild healthcare and education models in the Sichuan, China region impacted by the May 2008 earthquake. Chambers also co-sponsored the Jordan Education Initiative, which Cisco has worked on in partnership with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and the World Economic Forum. Additionally, in late 2006, Chambers co-led a delegation of U.S. business leaders, in partnership with the U.S. State Department, to form the Partnership for Lebanon, helping provide critically needed resources for ongoing reconstruction in Lebanon. Chambers has also spearheaded several other education initiatives, including the 21st Century Schools initiative, to improve education and opportunity for children in the Gulf Coast Region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

He has served two American presidents; most recently as Vice Chairman of the President George W. Bush National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), where he provided industry experience and leadership to help protect the United States' critical infrastructure. He also served on President George W. Bush's Transition Team and Education Committee, and on President Bill Clinton's Trade Policy Committee.

Professor Brian Cox

Brian Cox’s Professor Brian Cox started his career at the age of 16 as keyboard player with local rock band DARE (who recorded two albums and toured the world) before joining char toppers D'Ream in 1993, who went on to have many top 10 hits, including the New Labour election anthem 'Things Can Only Get Better', before finally going their separate ways in 1997. By that time, Brian was Dr Brian, having gained a first class honours degree in physics from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in High Energy Particle Physics at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg.

In 2005, Brian was granted a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He is now mainly based in Manchester and at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. He is in charge of an international project to upgrade the giant ATLAS and CMS detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN's new 27km-long machine, with tiny silicon detectors almost half a mile from where the particles in the LHC collide.

Brian has received many awards for his work. In 2002, he was elected an International Fellow of the Explorers Club, an organisation chaired by Sir Edmund Hillary and whose members include Neil Armstrong and General Chuck Yeager. In 2006, Brian received the British Association Lord Kelvin award for his work in promoting science to the public. Brian gives talks and lectures around the world and in 2006, he was keynote speaker at the Australian Science Festival. He recently spoke at TED 2008.

Brian was the Scientific Consultant on the Danny Boyle film SUNSHINE. His commentary on the film is now available on the DVD. He also writes on scientific issues, most recent credits include the New Statesman and The Times. His ability to present science in an exciting and interesting way has made him a popular television & radio presenter, broadcaster and writer. His credits include:

The Big Bang - BBC (2008)
Horizon - "What On Earth Is Wrong With Gravity" - BBC1 (2007)
Horizon - "The Six Billion Dollar Experiment" - BBC2 (2007)
Sunshine - (Scientific Consultant) - DNA/Fox Searchlight (2005-07)
The Bell - Teachers TV (2007)
Horizon - Einstein - BBC1 (2005)
The Prime of Marin Mersenne - BBC Radio 4 (2006)
This Morning - ITV1 (2005 - to date)
The Heaven & Earth Show - BBC1 (2005 - to date)
Comet Impact : Stardate - BBC1 & BBC2 (2005)
In Einstein's Shadow - BBC R4 (2005)
Horizon 40th Birthday - BBC (2004)
End Day - BBC3 (2004)
Einstein's Letters (presenter/writer) - BBC R4 (2005)
GCSE Bite Size Physics & Mathematics - BBC2 (2003)
Other credits : Moments of Genius (BBC4), Earth and Space (Now), Click on Line, The Cinema Show (BBC), Richard & Judy and Big Breakfast (Channel 4)