Warren Bennis and Robert Townsend
Warren Bennis and Robert Townsend are luminaries in the fields of finance, business and economics.
Warren Bennis is a Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California. After earning a Ph.D. in economics and social studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Bennis served for several years on the faculty of MIT’s Sloan School of Management and on the faculties of Harvard and Boston Universities. Dr. Bennis has also been a consultant to numerous American blue chip corporations. He has served in an advisory position to four U.S. presidents and is the recipient of eight honorary degrees.
After graduating from Princeton and attending Columbia Graduate School of Business, Robert Townsend served with a stock brokerage house and later joined American Express as a financial analyst. Eventually he became a senior vice president and director. Then he was asked by Avis Rent-a-Car to be their president and CEO. Rising to the challenge, he engineered a legendary turnaround, making Avis profitable after 13 years of a blood bath of red ink. Upon leaving Avis, he pursued a business consulting career and is now a popular business lecturer.
