Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. Founded in 1985 the organization has thousands of chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Each year, BNI generates millions of referrals resulting in billions of dollars' worth of business for its members. Dr. Misner's Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California. He is a New York Times Bestselling author who has written 22 books. He is also a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been a university professor as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of La Verne. Called the "Father of Modern Networking" by CNN and one of the "Top Networking Experts" by Forbes, Dr. Misner is considered to be one of the world's leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York. Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including CNN, the BBC and The Today Show on NBC. Among his many awards, he has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by the Red Cross and was recently the recipient of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Award. He is also proud to be the Co-Founder of the BNI Charitable Foundation. He and his wife, Elisabeth, are now "empty nesters" with three adult children Oh, and in his spare time!!! he is also an amateur magician and a black belt in karate.