Media Advisory: Ford Motor Co.’s Bill Ford to join UB panel discussion on sustainability in industry

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. will be among the speakers Wednesday at a panel discussion on sustainability in industry at the University at Buffalo.

The talk is part of an ongoing lecture series offered by Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water (RENEW), a UB institute that focuses on complex energy and environmental issues.

“UB is proud to host national leaders as part of the RENEW Distinguished Lecture Series, which addresses major local, national and global issues related to energy, water and the environment and builds on UB’s prominent history of environmental sustainability,” said UB Provost Charles F. Zukoski.

What: RENEW Distinguished Lecture Series titled “Industry Re-Imagined: How Can We Move to a Regenerative Society?”

Who: Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford; Delaware North co-CEO Jeremy M. Jacobs Jr.; and Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy.

When: 1:30-3 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 2

Where: Katharine Cornell Theater, located in Fargo Quad of the Ellicott Complex on UB’s North Campus. Map: http://www.buffalo.edu/home/visiting-ub/CampusMaps/maps.html#FARGO

On-site contact: David Hill in UB’s Office of University Communications, 716-238-1001.

The three panelists will share their thoughts on leadership, megatrends and sustainability. Each will provide opening remarks.

Ford will discuss re-defining mobility to meet the needs of a changing world.

Jacobs will talk about the evolution of the hospitality industry and how it shapes our experiences with food, travel and sports. Tercek will discuss learning how to holistically value the intrinsic beauty and importance of a healthy living planet with respect to the challenges humanity faces.

Afterward, Liesl Folks, dean of UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will facilitate a discussion among the three panelists, followed by a question-and-answer session with audience members.

The great-grandson of Henry Ford, Bill Ford joined the company’s board of directors in 1988 and has been its chairman since 1999. He served as Ford Motor Co.’s president, CEO and COO until 2006, when he was named to his current role as executive chairman.

Ford Motor Co. was named the Best Global Green Brand among all companies in the world in 2014, and earlier this year was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the seventh year in a row.

Jacobs began working for his family's company in 1991. Today he serves as co-CEO with his brother Lou Jacobs, positions they were named to in 2015. Together they lead the direction and growth of Buffalo-based Delaware North, which has 60,000 employees spanning four continents. He is also a member of UB President Satish K. Tripathi's President's Circle Fund.

Tercek joined The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization, in 2008. He is the author of the Washington Post and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling book “Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature.” Previously he was managing director and Partner for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 24 years.

He is a champion of the idea of natural capital — valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people, such as clean air and water, productive soils and a stable climate.

For more information, visit http://www.buffalo.edu/renew.html.