Events

Alex Taylor is the president and CEO of Cox Enterprises, a multi-generational family business that started in newspapers and has grown into a leader in the telecommunications, automotive services, and media industries. With more than 55,000 employees in the United States and abroad, Cox serves millions of customers every day.

Taylor serves on Cox Enterprises’ board of directors and has held numerous positions across the company during his 20-year career at Cox. As chief operating officer of Cox Enterprises, he oversaw its long-term growth and investment plans and its major subsidiaries — Cox Communications, Cox Automotive, and Cox Media Group. Prior to this, he served as senior vice president of field operations for Cox Communications and executive vice president of Cox Media Group, where he oversaw television, radio, newspaper, and digital properties, and led the creation of the company’s first cross-platform newsroom. Taylor is the great-grandson of company founder James M. Cox, and began his career as a reporter for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in Colorado.

Sheryl Palmer is the chairman and CEO of Taylor Morrison Home Corp., a leading national homebuilder and developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 2007, she has overseen a highly experienced leadership team in several key national homebuilding markets.

With more than 30 years of cross-functional building experience, including leadership in land acquisition, sales and marketing, development and operations management, Palmer has led Taylor Morrison into the top ranks of America’s largest public homebuilders, following the company’s IPO in 2013.

In 2018, the company was named America’s Most Trusted Home Builder for the third consecutive year by Lifestory Research, and a Top 100 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor.

Dennis L. Hoffman is director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He is director of ASU’s Office of the University Economist and has received both teaching and research awards from ASU, including the Distinguished Faculty Research Award and designation as a Dean’s Council of 100 Distinguished Scholar.

Lee McPheters is a research professor of Economics in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Director of the school’s JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center, which maintains the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast and Greater Phoenix Economic Forecast websites. McPheters also oversees the Job Growth USA website.

Mark Stapp is the executive director of the Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program and Fred E. Taylor Professor in Real Estate at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He is a founding principal and managing member of Pyramid Community Developers, and president of the U.S. operations of a Swiss real estate management company with American holdings in various states.