|
Gregor S. Bailar is EVP and CIO of Capital One and serves as Capital One’s chief IT strategist with responsibility for all the company’s technology activities globally. Mr. Bailar focuses on all the systems that enable Capital One’s Information-Based Strategy (IBS), leading a 3,000-member, industry-recognized, technology team that supports global expansion, enhances the alignment of technology solutions with critical business needs, and delivers state-of-the-art service for more than 45 million customers. Mr. Bailar is also part of Capital One’s Executive Leadership team reporting to the Chairman and CEO, Richard D. Fairbank.
Mr. Bailar’s expertise in IT comes from more than 15 years in strategic technology roles. Prior to his current position, Mr. Bailar spent four years at the Nasdaq Stock Market as CIO and EVP for Operations and Technology. Mr. Bailar was responsible for all aspects of technology and operations at Nasdaq and played a pivotal role in Nasdaq’s expansion activities into Europe and Asia as well as the overhaul of many of its major systems. Mr. Bailar was also Chairman and Founder of IndigoMarkets Inc., a software development subsidiary in Chennai, India.
Mr. Bailar joined Nasdaq after four years at Citicorp, where he served as Managing Director of Advanced Development for Global Corporate Banking. At Citicorp he was responsible for oversight of all major technology expenditures and initiatives and the management of the overall technological direction and strategy of Citicorp’s Global Banking Business. Before his tenure at Citicorp, Mr. Bailar served in key strategic and management positions at Perot Systems Corporation, Trirex Systems, Inc., Next Computer and Hewlett Packard.
A well-respected IT thought leader, Mr. Bailar was recently selected by Future Banker magazine as “One of the Hottest CIOs in Financial Services. Mr. Bailar currently sits on numerous advisory boards and is a director for Digitas, Inc. and Red Oak Software.
Mr. Bailar earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in electrical engineering from Dartmouth College. He currently lives with his family in McLean, Virginia.
 Dennis S. Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, joined The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America in 2000, reporting to the CEO. His responsibilities encompass Information Technology, E-Business, Facilities, Corporate Security and Business Process Outsourcing. A member of Guardian’s Risk Committee and Product Sub-Committee, he serves on the advisory boards of several major technology suppliers and industry publications. His staff numbers over 400 people, with IT and Facilities Budgets of more than $150 million and $35 million, respectively.
Mr. Callahan was recognized by Computerworld as one of the “Premier 100” IT executives in all industries for 2003. Under his leadership, Guardian was awarded CIO magazine's 2004 Enterprise Value Award in the financial services industry category, and has been in the InformationWeek Top 100 for the past two years. Guardian was also recognized as one of CIO magazine's "Resourceful 100" IT organizations in 2003, and one of the “Agile 100” in 2004. Also in 2004, Computerworld recognized Guardian with the Enterprise Management Award for Security and Risk Management; CIO Insight named Guardian the recipient of the third-annual Partners in Alignment Award; and Mr. Callahan was invited to attend the Global Innovation Summit in Israel as distinguished guest, Co-Chairperson US, and honoree for the 2005 Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in High Tech. Under Mr. Callahan’s leadership, Guardian has become one of the most highly regarded insurance IT organizations in its class.
Over a career spanning thirty years, he was Chief Information Officer for Global Risk Management and the Financial Services Division of American International Group (AIG), leading global IT. As COO of AIG Data Center Company, Inc, he managed global data centers, telecommunications and corporate systems, leading AIG’s successful global Y2K program. At Fidelity, he served as SVP for the Asset Services Group. Earlier, he was CIO at Wellington Management Company in Boston. In his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., he was VP, Global Operations and Technology, managing a global staff in transaction/trade processing and global clearance. There, he conceived and led Goldman’s Information Sciences Department, which was instrumental in applying computing to all aspects of deal creation, presentation and decision making in investment banking.
At Guardian, Mr. Callahan has imprinted his vision in the successful realignment of IT and the business units. His initiatives leverage customer information across the organization to support product development/distribution and revenue growth. With his team, he has introduced creative sourcing and offshoring concepts, and instituted controls and policies that maximize investment return and minimize cost. His initiatives bring new organizational approaches and a new philosophy of strategic leadership, business partnership and service. Dennis J. Manning, Guardian’s CEO said, "In Dennis Callahan's time with Guardian, he has transformed IT from an expensive support area to a strategic asset to our businesses.”
Mr. Callahan completed undergraduate studies at MIT and New York University in mathematics. As a graduate candidate at NYU, he converted his job in the Information Financial Services division of Standard & Poor’s into a full-time career.
 Ian Campbell, founder and CEO of Nucleus Research, is responsible for the company's product set and overall corporate direction. As such, he manages and directs Nucleus' industry-leading return on investment (ROI) research approach. He is an expert on the ROI and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis of technology and has written and presented extensively on a range of organizational topics. Mr. Campbell is the author of numerous studies on quantifying the value of technology, including the steps needed to achieve bottom-line benefits, and has shared his expertise as a repeat guest lecturer at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkley and Babson College in Massachusetts. Mr. Campbell founded Nucleus Research in response to what he observed as the need for a complement to the offerings of opinion-based IT research firms. The fact-based research methodology developed by Nucleus Research allows decision-makers to consider sound information resulting from input by those actually using the technology. Prior to joining Nucleus Research, Mr. Campbell was the Vice President at International Data Corporation where he managed a portfolio of research programs in the US and Europe along with IDC's ROI consulting practice. Mr. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Northeastern University and a Masters degree in business administration from Babson College.
 Robert B. (Rob) Carter is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at FedEx Corporation. In his role as CIO, Carter is responsible for the corporations’ key applications and technology infrastructure. FedEx applications, advanced networks and data centers provide around-the-clock and around-the-globe support for the information intensive transportation and logistics product offerings of FedEx Corporation. Carter joined FedEx in 1993 and has more than 20 years of systems development and implementation experience utilizing a wide variety of technology. Carter earned his bachelor's degree in Computer and Information Science from the University of Florida and his MBA from the University of South Florida.
 Linda Dillman serves as executive vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Prior to her promotion in 2003, she served as senior vice president and CIO.
A 13-year veteran of Wal-Mart, Dillman joined the company through the acquisition of The Wholesale Club in Indianapolis, Ind. At Wal-Mart, Dillman has served in several key information services management positions including applications development manager for SAM'S CLUB and application development manager for Wal-Mart store systems before being promoted to director of applications development in 1997. The following year, Dillman was named vice president of applications development where she led the system conversion for Wal-Mart's acquisition of ASDA in the United Kingdom. Prior to serving as senior vice president and CIO, Dillman served as vice president of international systems.
Dillman has been instrumental in helping Wal-Mart to develop one of the most sophisticated information services networks in the world. In addition to her role in the ASDA conversion, Dillman's most notable accomplishments were the implementation of the perpetual inventory and store Telxon systems at Wal-Mart. Prior to Wal-Mart, Dillman worked for the Hewlett-Packard Company for five years.
Dillman serves as a member of the Network of Executive Women, the Uniform Code Council Board, the University of Indianapolis Advisory Board, the University of Arkansas School of Engineering Advisory Board and the Northwest Arkansas Community College Foundation Board.
 Dan Drawbaugh has been chief information officer of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) since 1996. Under his leadership, this academic medical center has been named annually as one of the 100 most wired hospitals and health systems in the country by Hospitals & Health Networks. UPMC is one of only nine organizations nationwide to make the list for the seven years for which the award has recognized "technically savvy" hospitals. In addition, Mr. Drawbaugh has been instrumental in securing funding for and supporting partnerships aimed at developing, sharing, and transferring biotechnology solutions. He helped establish Lancet Capital, a biomedical venture capital fund, and the nation's first academic medical center-sponsored, small business investment company. It provides newly formed biomedical enterprises with critical early-stage capital and access to management, scientific, and other startup expertise. Over the past several years, Mr. Drawbaugh has helped secure congressional appropriations in excess of $60 million with the U.S. Departments of Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services. These partnerships include telemedicine initiatives, diabetes research and prevention, and medical simulation technologies. Military, veterans, and private sector health systems stand to benefit from these projects.
At UPMC, Mr. Drawbaugh has accountability for an annual IT operating budget of more than $65 million; capital cash flow of $88 million; nearly 1,000 IT professionals; more than 2,000 applications; 30,000 desktops and printers; three mainframes; 96 midranges; 600 servers; and 65,000 medical technology devices, as president of BioTronics Inc., a subsidiary of UPMC.
A graduate of Temple University with a bachelor's degree in biomedical and electrical engineering technology, Mr. Drawbaugh was recruited as director of biomedical engineering for Shadyside Hospital (now UPMC Shadyside) in 1983. He became chief information officer of the hospital in 1990. He also holds a master's degree in business administration from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh.
Ron Edwards is CIO of Crete Carrier Corp. and has nearly 30 years of data processing experience dedicated almost entirely to the transportation industry. During that time he participated in the early days of business-to-business communication, in the form of EDI and witnessed the transformation of this means of communication into what it is today, both good and bad. Edwards is spearheading Crete Carrier’s efforts to continue to expand all forms of electronic communication with its customers in the years ahead to continue gaining operating efficiency and accuracy in daily business transactions.
Dennis R. Fishback is Chief Information Officer and a Sr. Vice President at Calpine Corporation, a major power company based in San Jose, Calif. He leads one of the most innovative, efficient and effective information technology (IT) organizations in the power industry. In 2004, Calpine Information Services delivered over 35 innovative IT solutions, seven that directly boosted our competitive advantage.
With nearly three decades in the energy industry, Fishback has a unique perspective on the value of information and on how to use IT to refine complex data and employ it for improved agility and profitability in the evolving and ever-changing electricity market. Hired as Calpine’s first CIO in 2001, he initiated a plan for developing systems and processes--“getting the right information to the right people at the right time.” Fishback was recognized in 2004 in the Information Week 500 as one of America’s most innovative users of IT.
Mr. Fishback earned his Master of Business Administration at University of Richmond in Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Nuclear) at University of Florida in Gainesville.
 Allan Frank is President, Chief Technology Officer, and Senior Hackett Fellow at Answerthink, Inc. He is responsible for the company's service delivery strategy, product development and training, corporate marketing and communications, and internal technology infrastructure as well as all IT-related benchmarking, research, and advisory service programs for The Hackett Group. In addition, with over 27 years of consulting experience, Mr. Frank serves key clients of Answerthink in the area of IT strategy and advanced technologies.
With a background spanning over two decades, Mr. Frank has considerable experience in developing state-of-the-art solutions within a variety of technology disciplines, with a specialization in the areas of knowledge management and the dissemination of intellectual capital. He has published articles on these topics within a variety of industry and trade publications. In addition, he directs many of Answerthink's internal applied research and development activities that focus on business process management, technology architecture, knowledge management, and inter-enterprise strategy.
Prior to founding Answerthink, Mr. Frank was a Senior Partner with KPMG Peat Marwick. He served in a number of roles including member of the Board of Directors, Chief Technology Officer, National Partner-In-Charge of Enabling Technologies Consulting, and Global Service Leader of Enabling Technologies Consulting Services.
 Dr. Michael Hammer is the author of four books, including the international best-seller "Reengineering the Corporation", the most important business book of the 1990s. His latest book is "The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade". His articles have appeared in periodicals from Harvard Business Review to The Economist, and his work has been featured in every major business publication.
An engineer by training, Dr. Hammer focuses on the operational nuts and bolts of business. He was formerly a professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he is a founder and director of several high technology companies. He was named by Time magazine to its first list of America's twenty-five most influential individuals.
 Michael Hawley, Director of Special Projects and founder of MIT's GO Expeditions program, has been on the faculty of MIT for nearly a decade. He has worked on a wide array of creative projects with students in Electrical Engineering, and in the Media Lab where he held the Alex. W. Dreyfoos professorship. He cofounded Things That Think, a groundbreaking research program that explores the limitless ways digital media will infuse everyday objects. He also founded and led Toys of Tomorrow, which engaged many of the world's leading toy companies to invent innovative playthings, and Counter Intelligence, to explore domestic technologies from the kitchen countertop and beyond.
In 2001, Hawley founded Friendly Planet, a nonprofit company dedicated to children's education in developing countries. Friendly Planet is now producing a series of photo books about what it's like to grow up in some of the world's most extraordinary cultures. (Growing Up In Cambodia and Growing Up In Bhutan are scheduled for publication, and Bhutan will be the world's largest published book of photographs.)
Hawley received undergraduate degrees in music and computer science from Yale University and did his doctoral work under Marvin Minsky at MIT. His doctoral work, Structure Out Of Sound implements approaches for machine understanding of rich and complex soundscapes.
His eclectic research career has involved psychology and human-computer interfaces (at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill), computer music (at IRCAM in Paris, France) and pioneering work in digital cinema at Lucasfilm, Ltd (in San Rafael, CA), where he was a scientist in the Computer Research Division. Hawley's early work involved fundamental graphics interfaces to drive audio production, digital video editing and computer graphics technology. Working with Steve Jobs, Dr. Hawley was a principal engineer at NeXT, where he developed the world's first library of digital books, including digital editions of Shakespeare and Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary.
Hawley was honored with the first Jack Kilby prize for innovation in science in 1990 and named as one of the 1000 most creative individuals in America in 2001. He is a fellow and Trustee of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale University and on the boards of directors of the Rutgers Jazz Institute, the Vanguard Group, and several technology companies.
 Gilbert L. Hoffman is senior vice president and chief information officer of Maritz, Inc. Gil started his Maritz career in the Data Processing and Computer Operations Division of Maritz Inc in 1973. He advanced through a series of leadership positions in the Client Systems Division helping to design, develop and implement complex information systems for client programs supporting Fortune 100 accounts. He was promoted to Vice President, Director Data Processing and Computer Operations in 1989 with responsibilities for computer operations, network operations, and telecommunications and data security. In 1996 he was made a Corporate Officer and in 1998 he was named the corporation’s first Chief Information Officer (CIO) and promoted to Sr. Vice President with responsibility for Maritz technology globally. Gil holds a Masters degree in Computer Resources and Information Management from Webster University.
 Diane P. Holder is the President of the UPMC Insurance Services Division and the President of the UPMC Health Plan. The Insurance Services Division includes the UPMC Health Plan, UPMC Health Benefits, UMPC Health Network, UPMC for You and Community Care Behavioral Health Organization. These health benefits companies, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania manage benefits for over 600,000 commercial, Medicaid, Medicare and Medicare +Choice programs.
UPMC Health Plan along with the other companies within the UPMC Insurance Services Division is a provider-led organization with a network of over 80 hospitals and more than 6,500 physicians. UPMC Health Plan is a subsidiary of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the largest employer in western Pennsylvania and one of the nation’s premier health care delivery organizations.
At the time of her appointment as President of Insurance Services in January 2004, Ms. Holder was serving as president of UPMC Behavioral Health and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, one of the largest and most distinguished psychiatric clinical and research centers in the nation. She was also the founding CEO and chair of the board of Community Care Behavioral Health (CCBH) which is one of the largest academically affiliated behavioral health managed care organizations in the country and one of the first Medicaid managed care programs in the country to be awarded federal not-for profit status.
Ms. Holder holds the academic position of assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and has participated in several federally funded grant initiatives including serving as a co-principal investigator on the first nationally funded psychotherapy treatment trial for depressed adolescents. She speaks locally and nationally on a variety of topics related to behavioral health service delivery systems and managed care programs and services. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her master’s degree from Columbia University and additional postgraduate training at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.
Daniel E. Horton was appointed Vice President & Chief Information Officer of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. in December 1998. Since assuming this role, Information Services has reorganized to improve alignment with operations and successfully completed a number of major initiatives including both Global and North American ERP implementations, Y2K remediation, infrastructure standardization and increased globalization of the organization.
Since joining the company in 1978, he has held a mixture of finance and marketing positions, both in the U.S. and overseas. He began his career in a financial support role for Personal Products, held positions in finance with Commercial Products and at the Corporate level, and was named Controller of the U.S. Insect Control Division in 1984. In 1987, he moved to marketing, where he spent the next four years managing personal care brands. During this time, he completed a sales training assignment in Baltimore, MD. In 1991 he was named Regional Controller-Americas, where he directed information services and finance for the company’s Latin American operations. In 1994, he moved to Germany as Financial and I.S. Director for Central Europe where he helped develop our operations in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. He spent three years in Germany before he returned as Director of Finance – North American Consumer Products in August 1997.
He currently serves on the Racine Heritage Museum Board and previously served on the Grocery Manufacturers of America IT Committee.
Dan is a Certified Public Accountant, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Loyola University of Chicago (summa cum laude) and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
 G. Daniel Martich, MD graduated with honors from Bethany College and earned his medical degree from West Virginia University. Following medical school, Dr. Martich served his internal medicine residency at the Ohio State University. This was followed by a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Martich joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine in 1992 where his is now an Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine. He is an affiliated faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Biomedical Informatics and an adjunct Professor of Informatics at the Heinz School of Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Martich became the Medical Director of the Critical Care Information Systems at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in 1992 and is the Co-Director of the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. In 1998 he was named the Medical Director for UPMC's Clinical Information Systems and is now the Vice President of the eRecord for UPMC. Dr. Martich has championed the evolution of the Electronic Health Record at the UPMC.
Dr. Martich is a member of the medical honorary Alpha Omega Alpha and has received numerous awards and recognition for both his clinical care and community service. He is the author of more than 50 journal articles and book chapters on critical care medicine, heart and lung transplantation, electronic health records, and information technology in healthcare.
 Jason Maynard is Software Analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston. Maynard is responsible for infrastructure, applications, and systems management coverage including Microsoft, Oracle, Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, BEA Systems, and Mercury Interactive, to name a few. Maynard ranked as one of the top “up and comers” in the 2002 Institutional Investor All-America survey for infrastructure and systems management software. Previously, Maynard has been software analyst with Merrill Lynch, lead software analyst at Wachovia Securities, and an analyst at The Seidler Companies. His professional experience includes working in product marketing and business development for two software start-ups. Maynard has a Master of Business Administration in Information Technology from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
 Denis O'Leary is a recognized leader in managing strategic change for large organizations. During his 25 year tenure at JP Morgan Chase he held a variety of senior positions, becoming the youngest member of Chase’s executive committee when it was established in 1997. Starting as a commercial loan officer in 1978, he rose to become the Corporation's Director of Finance in 1985. In 1989 he was appointed Deputy General Manager of Geoserve, MHT’s provider of global custody, funds transfer, corporate trust and cash management services. In 1993 he became CIO, leading the firm’s global technology and operations community through two massive mergers while managing daily throughput of several trillion dollars. In 1997, he became head of retail banking and deputy manager for Chase’s 40,000 person consumer group, with 30 million customers and earnings in excess of $1.5B annually. In the early part of 2000, O’Leary was selected by the CEO to act as the focal point for managing the firm’s strategic adoption of the internet. As mangaing executive of Chase.com/Lab Morgan, he built a team to drive transformation/electronification of the firm's processes, and selective extension of JPMC’s business through early stage private investment in “brick and click” ventures. Prior to leaving JPMC & Co. in 2003, O’Leary returned to the consumer business to direct strategic planning and serve as the focal point for consumer payments. He received his MBA with honors from NYU’s Stern School in 1983 and his B.A. in economics from the University of Rochester in 1978.
 Laurie M. Orlov is Vice President and Research Director of the IT Management team at Forrester Research. She is responsible for Forrester’s research on IT management issues, including IT metrics, processes and governance, enterprise architecture, strategic IT planning, security processes and policies, and enterprise risk management. Prior to this role, Laurie was vice president and research director for Forrester’s Information Delivery team, where she managed a team of analysts covering enterprise content management, collaboration, and business intelligence technologies. Her previous areas of coverage at Forrester have included enterprise applications, procurement and sourcing, business intelligence, channel management, B2B commerce, and key trends in the software industry. Prior to joining Forrester, Laurie held senior IT management positions in various high-tech companies, most recently as a CIO, driving the implementation of eCommerce-based ERP solutions for a midmarket PC reseller. During her lengthy information technology career, Laurie was also responsible for IT projects for sales, marketing, and customer service. In 1996, Laurie was named to McGraw-Hill/Open Computing’s list of the top 100 women in computing. She holds a B.A. in music from the University of Rochester and has participated in numerous executive training programs.
 Randal Robison has been the Chief Information Officer for Koch Industries for four years. His roles at Koch have included Chief Technology Officer, VP of I/T Infrastructure Operations, and VP of Koch Development Services. Robison’s role includes I/T governance of six business unit CIOs across 700 I/T staff servicing 20,000 customers, across 70 locations worldwide. His role includes I/T leadership of Koch’s M&A due diligence (13 acquisitions and $7B invested during ‘03/’04). Randal serves on the board of Koch Business Solutions (a shared services company). He serves as technology advisor for three investment firms and is a member of two CIO working councils. In addition to Robison’s ten years with Koch Industries, his 22 year I/T career has included leadership roles at Nissan Motors and Dell Computer. Robison received his BS in Business & Marketing from Austin Peay State University in 1982 and his MBA from Middle Tennessee State University in 1996.
 Bruce J. Rogow, Principal, Vivaldi Odyssey and Advisory, Private Counsel in Information Technology Management. Since 1992, Bruce has been a private counselor for CIOs and CEOs related to the management of information technology. His practice is based on over 120 face-to-face, one-on-one Odyssey visits he makes annually with senior executives that are involved with the management of IT. The visits are designed to determine what is happening in the industry, what is working, what isn’t and what management challenges are emerging.
For over thirty years, Bruce has built a unique understanding of the issues, mindsets and agendas of senior IT executives. He summarizes his observations, findings and insights into his private OdysseyView practice. Bruce’s quarterly feature, A View form the Odyssey, appears in Optimize magazine. He is co-director of the ICEX Knowledge Exchange Program for Enterprise Architects. He is also responsible for the work on the IT organization of the future in Don Tapscott’s latest research project.
Over the past decade he has also served as an Executive Fellow of Gartner and Differentis, a UK based consultancy. Bruce’s primary practice is as a private counselor to the CIOs of several major firms.
Prior to being an independent counselor, he was Executive Vice President and Head of Research for Gartner for five years. During his leadership, Gartner’s Total Cost of Ownership, Magic Quadrants, Symposiums and position as the premier IT user research firm became industry standards. From 1977 through 1987, he was Senior Managing Principal of Nolan, Norton & Co. He was a major contributor to much of the NNC methodology and led major management assessments in over twenty Fortune 200 firms. He led the NNC Education efforts and was among their most sought after and effective communicators.
He started his career at IBM in sales. Bruce spent five years in Advanced Technical Training pioneering what became known as systems management.. He was also the originator, curriculum developer and lead instructor of their IT Complex Systems Management course that became a huge success with both customers and IBM field personnel.
He holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the University of Florida and has lived in Marblehead, MA for over twenty-five years…. but he is still considered a newcomer. His wife, Winnie, is a retired Partner of Nolan, Norton & Co/KPMG and was the program manager for the work that became the Balanced Scorecard by Norton & Kaplan. His son Mark is the Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His daughter Michelle is a Registered Professional Engineer serving as an Emergency Response On-Site Coordinator with the EPA in San Francisco. His other son, Geoff is a Reporting Assistant with Dow-Jones NewsWires in Jersey City.
Erdal Toprakhisar has been Chief Information Officer of Varian, Inc. since 1999. He oversees worldwide Information Systems and Technology, which includes all application, network, data center, security and infrastructure components.
His 25-year career in IT spans a number of industries: high-technology companies with core businesses in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, analytical instruments, life science, electronics manufacturing services and security systems.
Erdal joined Varian Associates, Inc. in July 1996, and held numerous key management positions including Director of IT, and was responsible for IT planning, business continuity initiatives for Data Center and SAP deployment.
Before coming to Varian, he was Director of IT at Radionics, Inc. (1981-1996), a successful start up venture. Prior to this experience, Erdal served 7 years as a Navy officer rising to the rank of Lieutenant.
Erdal Toprakhisar holds a M.B.A. from Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and B.S.E.E. from the Turkish Naval Academy. He has been a member of SAP High-Tech Executive Council since February 2002.
 Marc West, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of H&R Block, has provided senior business operations and technology leadership to high-tech, financial service and entertainment companies. As CIO, Marc focuses on delivering high impact business and technology value across H&R Block’s global lines of business. Marc’s 27 years of experience delivering high quality products across multiple distribution channels will enhance H&R Block’s commitment to providing a secure environment to our online and retail services.
Before joining H&R Block as CIO in September 2004, Marc was the CIO for Electronic Arts, the world’s largest developer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Other experience includes CTO for Move.com, a real estate online portal and subsidiary of Cendant Corp. Prior to this, Marc served as CTO and CIO for several traditional and online brokerage companies, as a senior practice director for Oracle Consulting, and as a manager for WW Engineering Technology at Mobil Oil.
Marc started his technology career in 1977 as a computer programmer and has a Computer Science degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Golden Gate University. He also currently serves on several high-tech advisory boards.
Ken Yerves is president of JM Family Service Center (JMSC) and senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of parent company JM Family Enterprises, Inc. (JMFE). As president, Yerves is responsible for the strategic direction, development and operation of JMSC, the company’s internal shared services center, which provides services to each of JMFE’s operating business units. He is also responsible for the direction, development and implementation of JMFE’s information technology. Yerves serves as a member of JMFE’s Executive Management Team, which is responsible for planning the company’s future growth.
JMFE established JMSC in 2003 to improve the company’s competitive position by leveraging key services that deliver business solutions and enhance customer value. By grouping together company resources performing like activities, JMSC is able to service multiple internal partners with lower costs and higher service levels. JMSC is composed of Technology Services, Financial Services, Project Management Services, Procurement Services, Corporate Services and Benefit Services.
A 20-year veteran of computer information systems, Yerves has held several positions within JMFE, including chief technology officer; vice president of Technology Services; assistant vice president of Technology Architecture, Planning and Control; assistant vice president Remarketing Applications Development; and assistant vice president of Applications Development. Most recently, Yerves was group vice president of Information Technology Services. Prior to joining JMFE in 1989, he worked as a system consultant for Todd Travel Promotions and owned and operated Micro Consulting Company, Inc., serving the New York tri-state area.
Yerves received his master’s of business administration from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, FL and his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Dowling College in Oakdale, NY. Yerves also graduated from Grumman Data Systems Institute in New York with a diploma in computer programming. Yerves resides in Boca Raton, FL with his wife, Debbie, and their two daughters and son.
JM Family Enterprises is an $8.2 billion diversified automotive corporation with more than 4,200 associates. The company’s principal businesses focus on vehicle distribution and processing, finance and warranty services, insurance activities, retail sales and dealer services. JMFE is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 15th largest privately owned corporation in the United States. It is also ranked No. 25 by a survey in FORTUNE magazine of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and No. 7 on the InformationWeek 500 listing of the nation’s most innovative information technology organizations. JMFE is headquartered in Deerfield Beach, FL and has major operations in Jacksonville, FL; Mobile, AL; St. Louis, MO; and Commerce and Alpharetta, GA. In addition to JM Service Center, other JMFE subsidiaries include SET, the nation’s largest franchised distributor of Toyota vehicles; JM&A Group, one of the largest independent insurance and extended warranty group of companies in the U.S.; World Omni Financial Corp., an automotive finance company, providing a broad range of financial services to consumers, dealers and lenders; and Margate, FL-based JM Lexus, the largest volume retail Lexus dealership in the world.
 Richard Jeni, Comedian and Actor. TV Guide has called Richard Jeni "flat-out hilarious" and People Magazine has called him "thrilling to watch". But stand-up comedy is only part of the Richard Jeni story. In the past few years, Jeni has also made his mark as the star of his own TV series, an actor in feature films, and an award-winning television host.
Jeni burst onto the national scene in 1990 with his first Showtime Special "Richard Jeni: The Boy From New York City". The show received three Cable ACE Awards (the awards for cable excellence) nominations. Two years later, he followed up with his second one-hour concert for Showtime, "Richard Jeni: Crazy From The Heat", which was the highest-rated stand-up special in Showtime's history. During this period, Richard was also becoming a favorite guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. After a couple of white-hot stand-up appearances on the show, Johnny moved Richard up to the status of "panel guest". Richard's banter with Johnny got the kind of desk pounding tears of laughter response from the legendary host that made Richard a fixture on the show. When Jay Leno took over, he kept the working formula of Richard Jeni and The Tonight Show going. During Jay's tenure, Richard has been on the show more than any other stand-up.
In the early 90's, Richard's success on cable and network TV caught the eye of HBO President Chris Albrecht who wooed Richard with an offer for a coveted HBO Comedy Hour, the most prestigious showcase available to today's comedians. The result was "Richard Jeni: Platypus Man", an unqualified smash the won the Cable ACE Award for "Best Stand-up Comedy Special" and formed the basis for his network sitcom of the same name. "Platypus Man" ran for one season on the UPN network in 1995.
Throughout the 90's, awards and accolades continued to pile up and Richard's growing popularity was making him a sold-out attraction in concert venues. A particular thrill was when George Carlin handed Richard the American Comedy Award for "Best Male Stand-up" on ABC TV. He hosted A&E's "Caroline's Comedy Hour" for two years and the show won the Cable ACE Award for "Best Stand-Up Comedy Show". He hosted the infotainment series "What A World" for The Learning Channel and was nominated for "Best Magazine Host". He became a popular guest on all the major talk shows while sprinkling in stints as a sardonic and hilarious correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight".
Jeni made his feature film debut co-starring as Jim Carrey's best friend in the blockbuster hit, "The Mask". He followed up with the leading roles in "National Lampoon's Dad's Week Off" and 1998's "Burn, Hollywood, Burn". In 1997, Richard released his long awaited CD entitled "Richard Jeni's Greatest Bits" which is a compilation of his fans favorite material.
Meanwhile, corporate America was tapping Richard's comedy talents to enhance the bottom line. He starred in commercial campaigns for Certs, Arby's, and won a CLIO Award for his work as a writer/performer in a campaign for the Milk Association. In 1998, a Coca-Cola executive in Atlanta heard some of Richard's routines on the radio and was inspired to create "Concession Stand-Up Comedy Starring Richard Jeni", a series of short stand-up pieces that ran during the trailers on over 10,000 movie screens in 1998 and were seen by over 48 million people. Richard currently provides the voice for "Max", the animated character who is the TV and radio spokesman for Office Max.
In 1997/98, Richard returned to HBO for his second comedy hour, "Richard Jeni: A Good Catholic Boy". In it's premiere outing, the show was the fifth highest rated cable program of the week and a non-stop comedy barrage that Entertainment Tonight said, "left the audience dazzled, breathless, and hungry for more". With his fourth special, Richard was now firmly established at the top of his profession and had amassed a body of work that could be matched by only a tiny handful of his contemporaries - no small trick for a shy kid from Brooklyn.
Richard grew up in one of the thousands of Italian-American families in the tough lower middle-class neighborhood of Bensonhurst. "We had more Tony's than Phantom of the Opera", says Richard. Although the area is not known for show business, Richard points out with tongue-in-cheek pride, "I went to the High School that they show at the beginning of "Welcome Back Kotter". I hung out in the disco they used in "Saturday Night Fever". It was an interesting neighborhood and probably leads the country in guys with names like "Nicky the Squid Calamari". In my neighborhood, "Goodfellas" was pretty much a home movie. Like most kids who never traveled anywhere, I had a myopic worldview that sheltered my psyche from some of the more brutal aspects of my environment. The fact that people were found murdered and dismembered within walking distance of my house on a regular basis was not particulary alarming because I assumed that the same thing must be going on in, say, Greenwich, CT - wherever the hell that was!"
"As a kid I worshipped my father who was a big comedy fan and a collector of comedy albums. My interest in comedy began as an attempt to imitate his behavior in one of a string of futile attempts to bond with him. When he was at work I'd sneak out the comedy albums and sit there listening, enthralled. I imagined this special hideaway where people went to hear these dirty jokes. It was so naughty and raucous and best of all, forbidden - very appetizing to a kid - kind of like an X-rated treehouse. I was hooked".
 Bob Evans is editorial director for InformationWeek and TechWeb. Previously, he was InformationWeek's editor-in-chief of for seven years, during which time the magazine became the unquestioned leader in its field in readership, circulation, market share, and revenue. He's responsible for ensuring that InformationWeek maintains its position as a highly relevant thought leader in the rapidly changing world of business technology, and for making the brand an integrated media platform for print, online, research, and events. Evans is also a senior VP of InformationWeek's parent company, CMP Media LLC, and during his 22 years with the company has helped develop and shape many of CMP's products and services.
 Brian Gillooly is Editor-in-Chief, Events, InformationWeek, and Editor-in-Chief, Optimize. If there's one thing that Gillooly has learned in more than a decade of following the industry, it's that the answers to business technology's critical questions never present themselves overtly. The task is to constantly dig for new ideas that lead to actions that deliver results. Gillooly brings that insight to Optimize as editor-in-chief, where he has been responsible for the strategic editorial direction and positioning of the publication since its founding in November 2001.
For more than eight of the 16 years that he has worked for CMP Media LLC, he's been involved with the InformationWeek brand. As a brand manager, he's also editor-in-chief of InformationWeek Events, where he is responsible for editorial development and strategic direction for live events. Gillooly served as the editor of InformationWeek magazine from January 1998 to August 1999.
 Stephanie Stahl is editor-in-chief of InformationWeek, where she oversees the brand's print, electronic, research, and event operations. She joined InformationWeek in 1992 as associate editor and covered numerous business technology beats. In 1997, Stahl became senior managing editor and was responsible for news coverage for the magazine and its Web site. In 1998 she became executive editor and helped oversee InformationWeek's cross-brand strategy. In 1999 she was named Editor of InformationWeek. Before coming to InformationWeek, she was an editor at DataTrends Publications Inc., where she wrote and edited several technology newsletters. In 2001 and 2002, Adweek named Stahl one of the most influential technology journalists. She's the recipient of several journalism awards and is a frequent speaker on business technology issues.
|
