4 Buffalo Business Spring 2018
Startups
distinguished speakers: Malala yousafzai and Theresa Payton
For 30 years, the UB Distinguished Speakers Series has brought influential voices from across
the world to share their thought-provoking perspectives in Buffalo. In the 2017-18 season, the School
of Management helped continue this tradition by sponsoring talks from Nobel Peace Prize winner
Malala Yousafzai and cybersecurity expert and former White House CIO Theresa Payton.
A capacity crowd of 6,500 gave a standing ovation to Yousafzai as she took the Alumni
Arena stage in September. Sponsored by the School of Management's Center for Leadership and
Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE), Yousafzai kicked off the 31st annual series and used the oppor-
tunity to share her story and discuss such topics as girls' education, separation of church and state,
refugees and climate change.
Before the lecture, CLOE presented a panel discussion, "Leadership through the Lens of Malala,"
featuring faculty members Dorothy Siaw-Asamoah, Jim Lemoine and Dean Paul Tesluk.
Payton didn't mince words when she took the stage in October, saying cybersecurity in the U.S.
is "totally broken." Payton served as chief information officer at the White House under President
George W. Bush. She currently serves as CEO of Fortalice Solutions and is co-founder of Dark Cubed.
Payton shared advice on how to protect sensitive information online and discussed the Equifax scan-
dal, the 2016 election and the need to increase diversity in the cybersecurity field.
Her lecture was sponsored by the School of Management Alumni Association, the Center for
Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) and the MBA program. Tom Ulbrich, CEL executive director,
served as moderator.
This spring, the School of Management will join three other UB schools in sponsoring the final
2017-18 speaker: TV icon Alan Alda. x
Above left: Cybersecurity expert
Theresa Payton talked about the
Equifax data breach and the 2016
election during her lecture.
Photo: Joe Cascio
Above right: A packed Alumni
Arena heard Malala Yousafzai
open the 2017-18 Distinguished
Speakers Series.
Photo: Nancy J. Parisi
