CIO Announcements from Northwest Air, Achievo and Affinia Group

Bud Mathaisal and Jim Burdiss start new jobs while Theresa Wise earns extra executive stripes.

Northwest Airlines‘ CIO Theresa Wise was made a senior vice president, the Eagan, Minn.-based company announced yesterday. Wise’s promotion comes as the company completes a 20-month restructuring and as a long-time officer of the company announced his plans to leave. Phil Haan, Northwest Airlines’ chairman and EVP of international, alliances and information technology, is stepping down on July 31, 2007.

In her new role, Wise reports to president and CEO Doug Steenland. She joined Northwest Airlines in 1993. She later served as managing director of information services, and in October 2001, was named vice president of information services. She holds a bachelor’s degree in math from St. Olaf College as well as a doctorate and a master of science degree in operations research and applied math from Cornell University.

Bernard “Bud” Mathaisel started a new job with IT outsourcing company Achievo Corp. as its SVP and CIO. He reports to Robert P. Lee, Achievo’s chairman and CEO, and is a member of the executive management team. Mathaisel most recently worked for contract manufacturer Solectron as its CIO from 1999 to 2006. Previously, he worked for Ford and was Walt Disney & Co.’s first CIO. Mathaisel has served as an editorial advisor to CIO for many years. In 2003, he appeared in an article addressing the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on the CIO role.

James “Jim” Burdiss has also started a new job. He left his post as SVP and CIO of Smurfit Stone Container Corp., a maker of tissue boxes and other packaging materials, and joined Affinia Group as its VP and CIO. Burdiss reports to Terry McCormack, president and CEO of the auto products manufacturer, and like our friend Bud, also is a member of his company’s management team. Burdiss is going to apply the strategic IT management, team building and business process redesign skills he’s applied over the course of his 30-year career to Affinia’s restructuring.

Prior to Smurfit Stone Container Corp., Burdiss was a principal with Computer Science Corporation, a senior manager in Ernst & Young’s Performance Improvement Group,  for Ernst & Young, and chief of operations for the Defense Contract Administration Management Office in St. Louis, Mo. He also served in the

U.S. Navy for 26 years. Burdiss earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University and an MBA the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

Burdiss has appeared in a variety of CIO articles over the years, including one on describing his analysis of the costs and benefits of outsourcing and one with advice on creating career development programs for staff.

Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to a post I wrote about Jerry Bartlett’s departure from TD Ameritrade last month. I corrected this post today based on new information I obtained about the circumstances surrounding his departure.