The Amy and Tony Polak
2008 Distinguished Advocate Award

RICHARD E. WITTEN is the Senior Managing Director of The Orienta Group, an investment and advisory firm. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Jets.com, a privately held jet charter company with offices in New York City, Boston and Phoenix.

Before forming The Orienta Group after his retirement from Goldman Sachs and Co., Mr. Witten was a Partner and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs from 1990 to 2002, having started his career at that firm in 1981. During his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Witten headed the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division Sales Force for the Americas and ran the investment grade debt business. He served on the FICC Operating Committee and numerous other committees within Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he practiced corporate securities law in New York City.

Mr. Witten recently published his first novel, Divided Loyalties, (Booksurge, 2006), a historically accurate depiction of his father-in-law's experiences during the Second World War.

He is a Vice Chairman of the Columbia University Board of Trustees and a member of the Board of the Columbia Investment Management Company. Mr. Witten is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Visitors of Columbia College, a Trustee of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, and a member of the Executive Committee of Gilda's Club of Westchester.

Through their private foundation, Mr. Witten and his wife, Lisa, have provided the primary funding for iTeach, a program developed by Mass General Hospital and Partners Aid Research Centre to provide a comprehensive intervention to support and improve delivery of HIV & TB care within the Public Health Sector in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. For more information please go to: http://www.massgeneral.org/aids/features/iTEACH_Narrative_Report_2007_%20final.pdf

Mr. Witten was graduated from Columbia College in 1975 with a B.A., cum laude, in Comparative Literature and received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1978.