Date: Apr 20, 2007

Leo A. Guthart, Chairman & CEO, Topspin Partners, to address Merrill Lynch Center Executive Breakfast

Topic is "Private Equity: A Long Island Perspective"

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Private Equity: A New Force for Value Creation will be the subject of the next Executive Breakfast and Conference at Hofstra on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 from 8-9:30 a.m. in the Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, 10th Floor, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, south campus.

Leo A. Guthart, chairman and CEO, Topspin Partners, LP, will deliver the keynote address at the breakfast, Private Equity: A Long Island Perspective. The breakfast is sponsored by the Merrill Lynch Center for the study of International Financial Services and Markets of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business and the Scott Skodnek Business Development Center. Seating is limited. Please R.S.V.P. by Friday, April 27, 2007, to (516) 463-6216, or fax (516) 463-4834.

The conference will follow the executive breakfast from 9:45- a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The full program is listed below.

Prior to founding Topspin, Mr. Guthart was president, CEO and chairman of ADEMCO, which he joined in 1964. Under his tenure, the company grew from a fledgling manufacturer to the Pittway Corporation Security Group, a $1.5 billion enterprise and the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of security systems. Following its sale to Honeywell International in 2000 for $2.2 billion, Mr. Guthart was named CEO of Honeywell’s Security and Fire Solutions Group.

Mr. Guthart serves as a board member of the Aptar Group (NYSE: ATR) and as a member of the Hofstra Board of Trustees, where was chair from 1993-1996. He was chairman of Cylink Corporation (Nasdaq: CYLK), a board member of Symbol Technologies (NYSE: SBL), and a trustee for Acorn Group of Funds. He received an A.B. in physics from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He also received a doctorate from Harvard Business School with a specialty in corporate finance, and served on its faculty where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.

The Merrill Lynch Center was established to promote and facilitate faculty and student study in the field of international financial services and markets and to communicate knowledge to the academic and business communities.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students find their edge to succeed in more than 140 undergraduate and 150 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, and a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence, cutting edge technology, extensive library resources, internships and special educational programs that appeal to their interests and abilities.  The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.


Private Equity: A New Force for Value Creation

9:45-9:50 a.m. WELCOMING REMARKS
Andrew Spieler, Ph.D., Hofstra University
Conference Director

9:50-11:30 a.m. SESSION I: Private Equity Fundamentals: Markets, Process
and Participants
Moderator: Ehsan Nikbakht, Ph.D., Hofstra University
Speakers:
Clark Maxam, Ph.D., University of Colorado-
Colorado Springs
David Flynn, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
John MacKessy, FTI Consulting

11:30-11:40 a.m. Coffee Break

11:40 a.m.-1 p.m. SESSION II: Markets for Private Equity Deals
Moderator: Nancy White, Ph.D., Hofstra University
Speakers:
Mark Beiber, CFA, New York Life Investment Management
Mark Deutsch, Hudson Ferry Capital
Douglas Cumming, Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

1-2:15 p.m. BUFFET LUNCH
Keynote Speaker: Kenneth Lehn, Ph.D., University of
Pittsburgh

2:30-3:30 p.m. SESSION III: Oversight and Linkages to Public Markets
Moderator: Esmeralda Lyn, Ph.D. Hofstra University
Speakers:
Jennifer Marietta-Westberg, Ph.D., Securities and
Exchange Commission
Georgiana Fung, Merrill Lynch & Co.

3:30-4:45 p.m. ROUNDTABLE
Moderator: Clark Maxam, Ph.D., University of Colorado-
Colorado Springs
Panelists:
Mark Deutsch, Hudson Ferry Capital
Frank Lackner, American Safety Insurance Holdings and
Greenlight Capital Re, LTD
Michael Odrich, Lehman Brothers
Cynthia Campbell, Ph.D., Iowa State University

4:30 p.m. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Andrew Spieler, Ph.D, Hofstra University
Conference Director
George J. Papaioannou, Ph.D., Hofstra University
Director, Merrill Lynch Center