Martha Heller
Columnist

New US CIO appointments, March 2024

Feature
Mar 13, 20249 mins
CareersCIOIT Leadership

Congratulations to these 'movers and shakers' recently hired or promoted into a new chief information officer role.

man with briefcase
Credit: Marten Bjork / Unsplash

Movers & Shakers is where you can keep up with new CIO appointments and gain valuable insight into the job market and CIO hiring trends. As every company becomes a technology company, CEOs and corporate boards are seeking multi-dimensional CIOs with superior skills in technology, communications, business strategy, and digital innovation. The role is more challenging than ever beforebut even more exciting and rewarding! If you have CIO job news to share, please email me!

Ruchir Swarup appointed CIO at KKR

Ruchir Swarup

Ruchir Swarup 

KKR

KKR is a global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. Prior to joining KKR, Swarup was at Addepar, and held a lengthy career at BlackRock. He earned a BE from Pune Institute of Computer Technology.

Crown Castle welcomes Ed Chan as CIO

Ed Chan

Ed Chan

Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a provider of wireless communication infrastructure services. The company owns, manages, and leases towers, fiber solutions, and small cell networks. Chan arrives at Crown Castle after a long career with Verizon. He holds an MSEE from Rutgers University and an MSE from the University of Pennsylvania.

Maximus names Derrick Pledger CDIO

Derrick Pledger, Maximus

Derrick Pledger

Maximus

Maximus partners with state, federal, and local governments to provide communities with critical health and human service programs. Pledger joins Maxims from a lengthy career at Leidos. He is a US Army veteran who served multiple tours of duty overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. Pledger holds a BA from Virginia Tech.

Jim Bossio appointed CIO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Jim Bossio

Jim Bossio

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a clinical, research, and educational enterprise located on a campus in northern Manhattan, NY. Bossio arrived at CUIMC in July 2023 as interim CIO. He was previously at Columbia University Information Technology since 2014. Bossio earned a BBA, MIS from Iona University.

Brinker International announces Chris Caldwell as CIO

Chris Caldwell

Chris Caldwell

Brinker International

Founded in 1975 in Dallas, TX, Brinker International is a casual dining restaurant company and home of Chili’s Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy, and virtual brand: It’s Just Wings. They own, operate or franchise more than 1,600 restaurants in 30 countries and two US territories. Caldwell had a lengthy career at Yum! Brands, most recently at KFC. He earned a BS from the University of Louisville.

Talal Butt appointed CIO at Generac

Talal Butt

Talal Butt

Generac

Founded in 1959, Generac Power Systems is an energy technology company that provides backup and prime power products and energy storage systems for home and business applications, as well as energy monitoring and management devices and services, along with other power products. Butt had prior roles with Rockwell Automation, Robert W. Baird, Covance, Inc. and General Electric HealthCare. He holds a BSc from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

The Wendy’s Company Names Matt Spessard CIO

Matt Spessard, Wendy's Company

Matt Spessard

The Wendy’s Company

Founded in 1969, The Wendy’s Company is a restaurant chain with thousands of restaurants across the globe. Spessard joined Wendy’s in May 2020 and most recently served as SVP, global CTO. He had prior roles at Sonic, YUM! Brands, Church’s Chicken, and Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Stores.

Mike Flanagan rejoins Compucom as CIO

Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan

Compucom

Compucom sources, integrates and supports workplace and advanced technology solutions for enterprise organizations. Prior to rejoining Compucom, Flanagan had roles at Computacenter and Pivot Tehcnology Solutions. He previously spent more than two decades at Compucom.

University of Tennessee Medical Center names Lynnette Clinton CIO

Lynnette Clinton

Lynnette Clinton

University of Tennessee Medical Center

Located in Knoxville, TN, The University of Tennessee Medical Center provides patient-centered care and remains at the forefront of research, technology, and treatments. Clinton arrives at UT Medical Center from BayCare Health System and held a prior role at Lehigh Valley Health Network. She holds a BS from Albright College and an MS from The University of Tampa. She’s also earned a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) designation, as well as Certified Digital Health Executive (CDH-E).

Doug Saunders appointed CIO of Arctic Glacier

Doug Saunders appointed CIO of Arctic Glacier

Doug Saunders

Arctic Glacier

Arctic Glacier was founded 140 years ago, and currently produces and delivers more than 2.5 billion pounds of ice annually to supermarkets, mass merchants, c-stores, dollar stores, gas stations, and liquor stores, as well other commercial and industrial businesses. Saunders comes to Arctic Glacier from Sweeping Corporation of America. He holds a BA and MS from The University of Alabama.

Sumit Johar joins BlackLine as CIO

Sumit Johar joins BlackLine

Sumit Johar

BlackLine

Founded in 2001, BlackLine is a provider of cloud software that automates and controls financial close and accounting processes. Johar most recently held a position at Automation Anywhere. He held prior roles at MobileIron, Tibco Software, Wipro, and Infosys. Johar earned a B Tech from the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra.

Montrose Environmental Group appoints John Jackson CIO

John Jackson

John Jackson

Montrose Environmental Group

Montrose is an environmental solutions company focused on supporting commercial and government organizations with over 2,800 employees across more than 80 locations around the world. Jackson had prior positions as Aerojet Rocketdyne, Pratt & Whitney, and Tronox. He earned a BS from John Jay College (CUNY) and completed the executive leadership program at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business.

Barrett Schiwitz named CIO at Basware

Barrett Schiwitz, CIO at Basware

Barrett Schiwitz

Basware

Basware is a global company specializing in AP automation, developing and integrating AI solutions to deliver benefits across the invoice processing cycle, including invoice capture, data extraction and PO matching. Schiwitz held prior roles at Snap One, Travelport, and NCR Corporation. He earned a BS from Florida Southern College.

New CIO appointments, February 2024

HCA Healthcare names Chad Wasserman CIO

Eileen White appointed CIO at BrandSafway

Ochsner Health appoints Amy Trainor as CIO

Arch Insurance welcomes Prabhu Venkataraman as CIO

Joel Goldberg joins Atlas Air Worldwide as CIO

UL Solutions appoints Patty Crawford as CIO

Barbara A. Romano promoted to CIO at SJI

One Call appoints Jessie Burgess to Board of Directors

Scott Ball appointed CIO at WWEX Group

Amy Farrow Joins Infoblox as CIO

Solve Industrial Motion Group welcomes Ernest Huber as CIO

Gertrude Van Horn appointed CIO at Rimini Street

New CIO appointments, January 2024

BEN Appoints Rick Howard as CIO

Sally Lehnhardt named CIO of Conservation International

Wingstop names Chris Fallon CIO

Justin Majcher joins Westrock Coffee Company as CIO

Duquesne Light Holdings Inc. announces Daniel Farrah as CIO

Andrew Chen appointed CIO at Envista Holdings

Darrin Hebert joins Securian Financial as CIO

New CIO appointments, December 2023

AIG appoints Roshan Navagamuwa as CIO

Lori A. Meyer named CIO at First Interstate

Global Payments appoints Shannon Johnston as CIO

Gil Salazar promoted to CIO at Stater Bros. Markets

Wynn Resorts announces Dan Regalado as CIO – North America

Lyft appoints Kevin Smith as CIO

Virginia Tech announces Sharon P. Pitt as CIO

Daren Hubbard named CIO for Princeton University

United Wheels announces David Blum as CIO

Santa Clara University names Rafael Espinosa III as CIO

Courtney Lewis Starnes joins Kaleida Health as CIO

New CIO appointments, November 2023

Walgreens Boot Alliance names Neal Sample as CIO

Modere appoints Guy Thier as CIO

Joseph R. Kowaleski promoted to CIO at Great American Insurance Group

Rajat Khanna joins Frontier Airlines as CIO

Rahul Goturi named CIO of TekniPlex

Neil Hampshire named CIO for Ocean Spray Cranberries

Superior Group of Cos. appointed Soo-Jin Behrstock as CIO

Alcami announces Tariq Jamal as CIO

Jerry Sheehan named Salk Institute’s CIO

Autosled Appoints David Darden to CIO

New CIO appointments, October 2023

United Natural Foods appoints Mario Maffie as CIO

BJ’s Names Anjana Harve new CIO

Julie Berry named CIO for Bath Iron Works

Dan Whitcher joins VSE as CIO

Dovenmuehle Mortgage announces Robert Howerton as CIO

Brian Carothers promoted to CIO at Proforma

rue21 names Scott Saeger as CIO

Michael Feliton joins Optiv as CIO

Richard Pluschau appointed CIO at Falcon

Eric Johnson appointed CIO at PagerDuty

Beam Suntory announces Hernán Tabah as CDTO

Delinea appoints David Koenig as CIO

New CIO appointments, September 2023

Rite Aid promotes Christine Rose to CIO

Parag Agrawal joins Fanatics as CIO

Rita Fisher Joins Lamb Weston Board of Directors

Mark Holtermann named CIO for Idaho National Laboratory

Jason L’Odense promoted to CIO at Global Medical Response

Mitre names Deborah Youmans as New CIO

Rohit Lal appointed to the Board of Bloomin’ Brands

Ryan Sparks named CIO of Eversana 

Jeff Stovall joins Abt as CIO

ABC Stores announces Doug Shimokawa as CIO

Boomi appoints Sean Wechter as CIO

Clark Atlanta University names Brian Benn as CIO

New CIO appointments, August 2023

Jason Strle joins Discover as CIO

Ingersoll Rand names Matt Emmerich as CIO

Odyssey Logistics names Maneet Singh as CIO

Chobani appoints Tom Cullen as CIO

PriceSmart announces Wayne Sadin as CIO

Boyd Group names Creighton Warren as CIO

Quaker Houghton appoints Anna Ransley as CDIO

Jeff Knowlton named CIO for Sonesta International Hotels

Southeast Georgia Health System names Susan Ibanez CIO

Jason James joins Aptos as CIO

University of Dayton names Gurvinder Rekhi as CIO

Andrea Johnson joins Pipedrive as CIO

New CIO appointments, July 2023

Marriott Vacations Worldwide names Raman Bukkapatnam as CIO

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces Rom Kosla as CIO

Accenture appoints Rajendra Prasad as CIO

Ryan Scott Named CIO at Bright Horizons

Jennifer Stedelin named CIO at Washington University in St. Louis

Stephen Stryker joins DigitalBridge as CIO

University of Virginia announces Kelly Doney as CIO

Siroui Mushegian joins Barracuda as CIO

Golden Corral announces Dawn Gillis as CIO

Christopher Kraus named CIO at Freshpet

Martha Heller
Columnist

Martha Heller is CEO of Heller Search Associates, an IT executive recruiting firm specializing in CIO, CTO, CISO and senior technology roles in all industries. She is the author The CIO Paradox: Battling the Contradictions of IT Leadership and Be the Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT. To join the IT career conversation, subscribe to The Heller Report.

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