Eagle Star Awards 2007

Directions to Event

Dr. Mark Braunstein
Co-founder, Chairman and CEO
Patient Care Technologies, Inc.

Last year's AICC Founder's Award recipient, Dr. Mark Braunstein is the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Patient Care Technologies, Inc. (“PtCT”), a 1998 Inc 500 company, and a leading provider of electronic patient record and care management systems to the home care industry. He received his BS degree from MIT and his MD degree from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). After an internship at Washington University he joined the faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy at MUSC until he left to co-found PROHECA, an early developer of clinical pharmacy systems.

PROHECA was acquired by National Data Corporation (NDC) in 1981 and was the seed for what is now NDCHealth. At NDC he ran what was then the NDC Healthcare Division for five years and was the company’s President and COO for three years until he left in 1990 to co-found PtCT.

He is the author of over fifty papers; articles and book chapters devoted to various aspects of clinical automation. His most recent publication is “Searching for the Holy Grail: Integrated Electronic Medical Records and Beyond”, a chapter he co-authored for the book “e-Healthcare: Harness the Power of Internet e-Commerce and e-Care”, edited by Douglas E. Goldstein and published by Aspen.

He is presently Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures (GATV) -- a corporation that supports the Advanced Technology Development Center, a technology incubator operated by the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a past Chairman of the Atlanta Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, and served on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. He won a 1996 Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southeast Region and received a 1995 Innovation in Medical Management Award from the American Society of Physician Executives.

Dr. Braunstein served on the Israel Economic Development Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the precursor of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region in 1991-92. He became an active member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, and was the inventor in 1994 of the “Industry-Specific Business Exchange” economic development model that has been a hallmark of AICC’s success over the past 12 years. He served in a variety of leadership capacities with the Chamber, culminating as Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2003.

Larry Benvineste
Dean
Goizueta Business School - Emory University

Lawrence M. Benveniste, Ph.D., is Dean of Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He also holds the academic position of the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Finance. Prior to his current role, Benveniste served as Dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He rose to the rank of dean from his faculty position as the U.S. Bancorp Professor of Finance. He also served on the faculties of Boston College, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rochester. Benveniste worked as a staff economist for the Board of Governors to the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., where he helped to develop several significant regulatory initiatives, including risk-based capital, which monitors the equity value of commercial banks to protect the deposit insurance system. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Alliance Data Systems and Rimage Corporation.

Craig Lesser
Managing Director
McKenna, Long & Aldridge

Craig Lesser is a Managing Director and the head of a newly formed international public affairs initiative within the firm’s government affairs practice. His primary focus is on expanding the firm’s presence abroad and interfacing with international businesses operating in the United States.

Prior to joining McKenna Long & Aldridge, Craig served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. He was appointed to his post by Governor Sonny Perdue in 2004. In this role, he led efforts to recruit new business to Georgia from around the nation and internationally. He was integral in-the development of Hemisphere Inc., a public-private partnership created to attract the Free Trade Areas of the Americas Secretariat. As a result of this initiative, five Latin American nations opened consulates in Atlanta and many new business relationships were forged between Western Hemisphere nations and Georgia. Craig also oversaw the expansion of Georgia’s international presence with the opening of state offices in Chile, Brazil, China and France. In addition, Craig’s responsibilities included oversight of the state’s small business and entrepreneur programs, efforts to grow existing business as well as marketing Georgia as an ideal destination for filmmakers, the music industry and multi-media companies. Prior to his gubernatorial appointment, Craig served as Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Georgia Power Company; President & CEO of Mirant New York; and Senior Vice President of External Affairs for Mirant Americas. He was also a partner in a public affairs consulting firm.

Craig received his B.A. from the State University of New York College at Oneonta and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business, Leadership Georgia and the Regional Leadership Institute.