Sirva Appoints Freddie Mac CIO to Board of Directors

Plus: Carmichael Promoted to COO at Fifth Third Bancorp; Urwiler Hired at Vail Resorts; and more CIO Announcements

Moving company Sirva appointed Joe Smialowski (pictured at left) to its board of directors on Wednesday.  Smialowski currently serves as executive vice president of operations and technology at Freddie Mac http://www.freddiemac.com/, a position he’s held since December 2004.  Prior to joining the mortgage company, he was executive vice president at Fleet Boston Financial for six years.  Smialowski also previously served as Sears’ CIO.

Greg Carmichael was promoted to chief operating officer at Fifth Third Bancorp. Carmichael, 44, most recently served as the Cincinatti-based financial services company’s EVP of information technology and operations since 2004. During that time, he spearheaded the restructuring of the customer service center, the upgrading of the bank’s technology, the launch of a Six Sigma initiative and the creation of the bank’s strategic sourcing operation. As COO and EVP, Carmichael will continue to oversee the technological functions supporting all back office activities across Fifth Third’s business lines.  Carmichael’s boss and bank president Kevin Kabat had many very complimentary things to say about his new COO in the press release announcing Carmichael’s promotion, including

Greg’s promotion to COO is in recognition of the skills and contributions he has brought to Fifth Third and the expectation that his leadership will continue to drive growth of the company. In addition, George [Schaefer, the CEO] and I are looking forward to working even more closely with Greg, who brings energy, enthusiasm and passion to Fifth Third each day.

Robert Urwiler (pictured at right) has successfully moved from the high-tech industry to the hospitality industry.  The former SVP and CIO of Macromedia and Peregrine Systems recently accepted a job with Broomfield, Colo.-based Vail Resorts as its new SVP and CIO.  Urwiler, 43, will begin his new job on August 21.  Check out this story which appeared in the February 1, 2004 issue of CIO for Urwiler’s take on serving as a customer reference for vendors. 

In May, I reported on Supervalu’s acquisition of Albertson’s and the executive who’d be put in charge of IT once the acquisition was complete (Supervalu’s EVP and CIO Pamela Knous.)  Yesterday, Supervalu issued a press release announcing that it had hired a new SVP and CIO: one Paul Singer, who hails from Target.  Knous has since been made Supervalu’s EVP and CFO.  Singer, who served as Target’s CIO from 2000 to 2005, reports to her. 

Last but not least, Adriaan Bouten e-mailed me yesterday to let me know that he joined the McGraw-Hill Companies

 as SVP and CIO for its Information & Media segment, which publishes BusinessWeek and runs J.D. Power and Associates, in May.  Bouten reports to segment president Glenn Goldberg. Previously, he led the transformation of USATODAY.com and implemented common platforms and solutions while working for Gannet. Prior to USATODAY, Bouten held senior information technology positions with Hanley-Wood, The Times Publishing Company and Bon Secours Health System Inc. He began his professional career with Ernst & Young/Cap Gemini.