Leadership
Event Co-Chairs
Debra F. Sukin, MHA, PhD
Regional Senior Vice President, Houston Methodist
CEO, Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
As Regional Senior Vice President of Houston Methodist, Dr. Debra F. Sukin has responsibility for three suburban hospitals in addition to her role as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Houston Methodist, Sukin served as Senior Vice President of CHI St. Luke’s Health System with regional oversight of their three hospitals in The Woodlands and Pasadena. Sukin also served as Chief Executive Officer of CHI St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital for eight years.
Sukin is Vice Chair of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership Board of Directors and Vice Chair of the Interfaith of The Woodlands Board of Directors. She also serves as a board member of the Woodforest National Bank as well as Lone Star College Foundation. She is a member of the Texas Hospital Association Council on Policy Development and the Greater Houston Chapter of the Young President’s Organization. In 2007, Sukin was recognized as one of Modern Healthcare’s “Up & Comers” in healthcare leadership.
Ralph Alexander
President and CEO of Talen Energy
Ralph Alexander is the President and CEO of Talen Energy. He was previously a Partner with Riverstone Holdings LLC. He is based in Houston.
For nearly 25 years, Mr. Alexander served in various positions with subsidiaries and affiliates of BP plc, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies. From June 2004 until December 2006, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Innovene, BP's $20 billion olefins and derivatives subsidiary. From 2001 until June 2004, he served as Chief Executive Officer of BP's Gas, Power and Renewables and Solar segment and was a member of the BP group executive committee. Prior to that, Mr. Alexander served as a Group Vice President in BP's Exploration and Production segment and BP's Refinery and Marketing segment. He held responsibilities for various regions of the world, including North America, Russia, the Caspian, Africa, and Latin America. Prior to these positions, Mr. Alexander held various positions in the upstream, downstream and finance groups of BP.
Mr. Alexander currently serves on the boards of Enviva Partners, LP, Talen Energy Corporation and CHI St. Luke’s Health. He has previously served on the boards of Foster Wheeler, Stein Mart, Inc., Amyris and Anglo-American plc. In addition, Mr. Alexander is currently Chairman Emeritus of the Board of NYU School of Engineering and a Trustee for New York University.
He received an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Brooklyn Polytech (now NYU School of Engineering - Polytechnic) and holds an M.S. in Management Science from Stanford University.
