Ira T. Kay, global practice director of executive compensation consulting at Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Washington, DC, is a nationally recognized expert on executive compensation. He has helped U.S. public, private, and international companies develop annual and long-term incentive plans to increase shareholder value. Dr. Kay has written and spoken extensively on executive compensation issues and conducted research on executive pay, stock ownership, and stock options. He is coauthor of the book The Human Capital Edge and is the author of CEO Pay and Shareholder Value: Helping the U.S. Win the Global Economic War and Value at the Top: Solutions to the Executive Compensation Crisis. Dr. Kay… has published articles in the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Journal of Deferred Compensation, and Across the Board. He has also presented analysis of executive compensation issues before the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and a U.S. Senate subcommittee. He is frequently quoted in the major business press and speaks globally on executive compensation issues.