Hail to the Women CIOs!

When I last checked the stats, a mere nine percent of CIOs were women.  If today’s Movers & Shakers report is a sign, that number may be growing (or the women in that nine percent are really moving and shaking). Let’s face it, college women tend to pick careers other than technology, and the culture of many IT organizations is not the most attractive for women.  That is why (in my opinion), the women who actually go into IT and rise through the ranks tend to be truly remarkable and excellent leaders. 

Today’s report includes a few of them…On to the news!

Karenann Terrell was recently promoted to CIO at Walmart. In this position she will be responsible for the company’s global technology systems including stores and clubs, supply chain, merchandising and enterprise platforms. Terrell was most recently Walmart’s assistant chief information officer and will continue reporting to Rollin Ford, who was promoted from CIO to Chief Administrative Officer.

Prior to joining Walmart, Terrell was CIO of health care leader Baxter International, Inc., supporting its businesses worldwide from 2006 to 2010. She previously served as CIO of the Chrysler Group and Mercedes-Benz North America. Terrell began her career at General Motors in 1986, where she spent 16 years with responsibility for brand development, manufacturing and engineering at Cadillac.

Kristen E. Blum has been named executive vice president and chief technology officer at J. C. Penney Company. She has more than 25 years of experience at leading consumer goods and retail companies, including PepsiCo, Abercrombie & Fitch and Apple, Inc.

Kristen reports to Chief Operating Officer Mike Kramer, and has responsibility for the Company’s jcp.com business and information technology systems. Most recently she was SVP, chief information officer, Enterprise Transformation at PepsiCo.  From 2006 to 2010, she was SVP, chief information officer at Abercrombie & Fitch, and prior to that, she spent four years at Apple, Inc. as director of Supply Chain Solutions and International Retail.

Kim Stevenson has been been promoted to CIO at Intel, where she had been serving as GM & VP of IT Operations and Services. Prior to joining Intel, Stevenson served at EDS as the VP of the Worldwide Communications, Media, and Entertainment Industry Practice. While at EDS, she also served as the VP of Enterprise Service Management and as the VP of the Infrastructure Portfolio. Earlier in her career, Stevenson was a VP at IBM.

Dell has appointed Adriana Karaboutis as VP & Global CIO. Most recently, Karaboutis was VP of IT at Dell. In this position, she supported product groups, manufacturing, procurement, and supply chain operations. Before joining Dell in 2010, Karaboutis served at the Global Manufacturing & Labor Relations Information Officer at General Motors and held executive positions at Ford. She is a member of the Manufacturing Executive Leadership Board and a past President of the Michigan Council of Women in Technology.

And now, the men….

Epsilon, a marketing services firm, announced that Keith Morrow has joined as EVP and CIO. Keith will be responsible for all of Epsilon’s IT systems globally, overseeing a staff of over two hundred technology professionals. Prior to Epsilon, Keith was founder of K. Morrow Associates, an IT effectiveness consultancy. He has served previously as CIO at Blockbuster Inc. and 7-Eleven, Inc. during which time he ranked on CIO Magazine’s CIO 100 three years in a row. Keith will report to Bryan Kennedy, President and CEO of Epsilon.

Best Doctors, Inc. announced the hiring of Michael MacKenty as the company’s new CIO. MacKenty will lead the IT Infrastructure, Application Development and Project Management teams at Best Doctors. Founded in 1989 by Harvard Medical School professors, and based In Boston, Best Doctors, Inc. serves more than 30 million members in every major region of the world to find the right diagnoses and right treatment.

MacKenty brings more than 30 years of experience at leading global organizations to his new position. Prior to joining Best Doctors, he was President at Nightingale Information Technology and served as Vice President, Information Technology, at Healthways, Inc. He has also held senior positions at corporations such as NYPRO, Instron Corporation, Motorola, Hit or Miss, TJ Maxx and General Electric Capital Corporation.

It is widely believed that Aneesh Chopra, who recently resigned as the first White House Chief Technology Officer, is mulling a run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and is likely to make an announcement soon. Prior to being appointed to the CTO post by President Obama in May 2009, Aneesh had served as Chief Technology Officer for Governor Tim Kaine. Kaine is running to replace retiring Democratic Senator James Webb.

The global law firm Goodwin Procter announced the appointment of Lorey Hoffman as CIO. Hoffman joins the firm from Akin Gump, where he had served as CIO since 2008. In addition to overseeing the firm’s Information Technology function, Hoffman will also be responsible for management of Goodwin’s Knowledge Management, Research and Library Services, and Litigation Technology groups.

Hoffman’s background includes nearly 30 years of broad-based business and technology experience in senior management positions with organizations including global insurance firm AON, KPMG Peat Marwick, Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the U.S. Department of the Treasury/Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

United Educators Insurance (UE), a Reciprocal Risk Retention Group serving educational institutions, welcomed Frank Neugebauer as its CIO. A primary focus of the CIO position, which is a new position for UE, is enabling the company to build upon its leadership position in serving member schools, colleges and universities. UE is based in Chevy Chase, MD. Most recently, Frank served as CIO at the Kaufman Financial Group.

Koorosh Beigian has joined AXIS Capital Holdings as EVP and CIO. Beigian will manage AXIS Capital’s global information technology organization from the company’s New York offices and will report to John Murray, its CEO.

Beigian was formerly Global Chief Technology Officer at ACE Group (Zurich, Switzerland), with responsibility for all aspects of ACE’s IT infrastructure on a global basis. Prior to joining ACE Group, Koorosh served as Global CIO at Combined Insurance Company of America in Chicago.

As always, thanks for reading. And keep sending me news!