Governor, Bahrain Monetary Agency; Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Al-Maraj has been the Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) since January 2005. Al-Maraj has long experience in finance, engineering and management and served with the Government and the private sector including Assistant Undersecretary at the Bahrain Ministry of Finance and National Economy and Undersecretary at the Bahrain Ministry of Transportation. Prior to his appointment as Governor of Bahrain Monetary Agency he was the General Manager and CEO of the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation in Saudi Arabia.

Secretary General, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI); Bahrain Mohamad N. Alchaar is currently the Secretary-General of The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) which is an international organization consisting of over 120 members from 24 countries. Alchaar has a vast working experience in financial markets and institutions, in addition to his central banking directorship experience in developing countries.

Chairman, Senate of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan Mohammedmian Soomro is the chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, a position he has held since March 2003. Most recently, Soomro also served as the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan from November 2007. Prior to that he was the governor of Sindh Province. During his tenure as governor, he took a number of steps to bring about financial and administrative discipline, while accelerating the pace of economic development in the province. Merit, transparency, and good governance were the hallmarks of his administration.

John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts Robert C. Merton is the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at the Harvard Business School. He is past president of the American Finance Association and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1993, he received the Financial Engineer of the Year Award from the International Association of Financial Engineers. In 1997, Merton received the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for a new method to price derivative securities. A former senior advisor to Salomon Inc.

Professor of Law, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas Ali Khan studied civil engineering, English literature, and law in Pakistan. In 1976, he immigrated to the United States and obtained law degrees from New York University Law School. He joined the legal academy in 1983. Khan is a prolific writer. He has devoted most of his scholarship to Islamic jurisprudence and international law involving conflicts with

Dean, Harvard Divinity School, John Lord O’Brian Professor of Divinity, and Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University Professor Graham has been a member of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences since 1973 and holds a joint appointment in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Study of Religion. Since 2000 he has been serving as Dean of Harvard Divinity School.

Managing Director, Maris Strategies Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom Joseph DiVanna is currently the managing director of Maris Strategies, a Cambridge (UK) think-tank for banks, governments, and multinational companies. He is the author of numerous books on banking, business, and strategy, including Understanding Islamic Banking: The Value Proposition that Transcends Cultures (2006), and a contributing columnist to The Banker, Financial World, Banker Middle East, and Islamic Business & Finance.

Senior Economist and Research Adviser, Islamic Development Bank, IRTI, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia M. Umer Chapra is well known for his scholarship in the field of Islamic economics. Currently he is serving as an adviser to the Islamic Development Bank research arm, Islamic Research and Training Institute in Jeddah. Prior to this he was the senior economic advisor at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). Chapra has published more than 15 books and over 100 papers, and delivered several hundred speeches all over the world on the topic of Islamic economics and finance.

Chief Academic Officer, INCEIF, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malik Muhammad Mahmud Al-Awan currently serves as chief academic officer at INCEIF (Central Bank of Malaysia), is a practicing attorney of international law, and a Professor Emeritus at Pakistan’s National University of Sciences & Technology. He has several years experience in the fields of Islamic finance, law, and telecommunications.

Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan Shamshad Akhtar took over as the fourteenth Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan on January 2, 2006, for a three-year term. Prior to her appointment, Akhtar served as Director General, Southeast Asia Department, for the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She also held the position of Director, Governance, Finance and Trade Division for the East and Central Asia Department of ADB. She has been ADB’s Coordinator for the APEC Finance Ministers Group from 1998 to 2001 and has served on a number of ADB committees.