Fusion 2012 Advisory Board & Speakers

Richard Davidson is President & CEO of Cimphoni, an IT leadership firm that assists companies in the transformative use of information technology. This includes identifying and executing innovative and effective ways of provisioning IT solutions and services internally while collaborating with business leaders to embed information technology into strategic business processes to create competitive differentiation externally.

Prior to founding Cimphoni, Rick was a Managing Director at AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm offering comprehensive services to improve corporate performance, execute corporate turnarounds, provide litigation consulting and forensic accounting services and execute IT organization turnarounds.

Rick has 30 years experience as a senior executive and business consultant, leading the development and execution of business and information technology strategies that have significantly improved the performance of numerous organizations. His experience spans several industries, including industrial and consumer products as well as professional services and he has implemented several transformation initiatives in the areas of materials management, supply chain, product lifecycle management, ERP, CRM, e-commerce and web 2.0.

Prior to joining AlixPartners, Rick was the Global CIO for Manpower, a global HR services company. Previously, he was a CIO Partner at the Feld Group, an IT leadership and consulting firm. He has also been the CIO at Case New Holland, an agriculture and construction equipment manufacturer and at Haworth, a global office furniture manufacturer. Rick began his career as an electrical engineer for Revlon.

Rick has written several articles and has been quoted in numerous magazines, including CIO, ComputerWorld and Information Week. Rick Davidson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.

Dr. Shelley has a PhD in bio-medical engineering, having worked in the UK, Germany and USA, he has led Research and Development, Quality and IT organizations and held positions in various technical and business leadership roles including CIO. As Chief Technology Officer at Sears Holdings, Phil is leading Sears Holdings IT Operations and is focusing on Innovation and the modernization of IT across the company. Phil is active in the migration of workload off mainframes, large-scale private open-source cloud computing, Hadoop for Big-Data BI and infrastructure modernization, helping Sears Holdings be an ever stronger real-time digital enterprise. Phil is co-chair of the cloud computing chapter of the IAOP.

Frank Ace graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1984. He has held a variety of technical and management positions in private sector insurance and financial services organizations for 10 years. He came to the State of Wisconsin, Department of Health and Family Services to manage their Applications Development efforts in 1994 amd took the positions of IT Director at the Department of Justice in 1998. Frank has served as Vice Chair, and Chair of the Wisconsin State IT Directors Council, and as Co-Chair of the Wisconsin State Technology Leadership Council.

Ms. Bruns successfully recruits, motivates and leads Core’s extensive sales team across its national footprint. She is also responsible for maintaining key relationships with pivotal technology partners and currently serves on several Advisory Boards. Prior to joining the Core team, Ms. Bruns led the Inacom Information Systems sales force, primarily focused on the Wisconsin marketplace.

Ms. Bruns’ experience includes a tenured leadership background in technology-focused organizations such as EMC and Hitachi Data Systems. In her 10 years with EMC, Ms. Bruns was recognized among her peers as Rookie and District Manager of the Year. She also achieved Club 101 status for each of those 10 years. In 2007, Ms. Bruns was selected as a Distinguished Sales & Marketing Executive for her outstanding dedication, professionalism and success, and was awarded Sales & Marketing Executive of the Year.

David Cagigal is currently Chair, Board of Directors for Madison Preparatory Academy and past Vice Chair, Board of Directors of the Urban League of Greater Madison. David is also a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in information technology management and was the Chief Information Technology Officer at Alliant Energy for nearly seven years until 2011. Prior to Alliant Energy, David also served in several senior IT management roles at DeVry University, DePaul University, Maytag and Amoco Corporation. David is serving as a mentor for UW – Operations and Technology Management MBA program as well as the Leadership Council for the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration from DePaul University.

Steve Cretney rejoined Lands’ End in 2010 to lead the IT organization through a new era growth and expansion for Lands’ End. Steve has nearly 25 years of IT experience with an innate ability to lead organizations and deliver results. In his previous position as President and COO at TASC, a third party administrator of employee benefit services, Steve had the unique opportunity to help develop business strategy and lead various business units, including Sales and Operations. Prior to his position at TASC, Steve was with Lands’ End as the leader of IT

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bentley Curran is CIO-Vice President and Corporate Officer of Brady Corporation. He is responsible for all Brady’s information technology solutions and services. In addition to IT, Mr. Curran leads the corporate sustainability and eCommerce programs. Mr. Curran has served Brady since 1999 in various leadership roles including Vice President, IT and Director IT – Global Infrastructure. Mr. Curran received his bachelor’s degree in business from Marian University. In addition, Mr. Curran also serves on various groups, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison eBusiness Consortium Advisory Board and the Brady Corporation Foundation Board.

Tom DeCoster is vice president of service solutions for CDW, a leading provider of technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare. DeCoster is responsible for the overall strategy of the Service Solutions group, which is comprised of project-based professional services and operations-based managed services. His team of 900 delivers and manages technology solutions including converged infrastructure and systems and software solutions for customer across the United States and Canada. Service Solutions is sought after and trusted to deliver and manage mission-critical technology infrastructure for customers and is recognized for its world-class professionals and operational excellence.

DeCoster joined CDW in 2006 as senior director of professional services. Prior to joining CDW, DeCoster was senior director of professional services at Berbee Information Networks. DeCoster earned a B.S. in business from Indiana University and an M.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado.

Jane Durment is the Chief Information Officer of The Marcus Corporation, a NYSE company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis. She joined The Marcus Corporation in 1996, assuming responsibility for a complete upgrade of enterprise and property systems and networks, and to develop and launch the company’s new e-commerce, distribution and intelligence plans.

Prior to joining The Marcus Corporation, Jane had 20+ years of experience working for technology vendors with responsibilities including consulting, customer support, strategic planning, risk management, project planning and major accounting marketing. She holds a computer science degree from the University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana and an MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Jane also works to advance technology in the company’s two industries, serving on the board of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) and as a member of the NATO (North American Theatre Owners Association) Technology Committee.

Denis Edwards is Manpower’s Global Chief Information Officer and a member of Manpower’s Executive Management Team, following his promotion from Vice President – Global Solutions Delivery in January 2009. As CIO, Denis has overall responsibility for leading and coordinating information technology functions across Manpower’s operations in 80 countries and territories. Denis joined Manpower in 2007 and has played a significant role in developing key transformational technology solutions for Manpower’s global operations that benefit the company’s clients and associates. Prior to joining Manpower, Denis held senior IT roles with Cadbury-Schweppes, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Marriott International. In addition to his Fortune 500 expertise, Denis has served as Chief Technology Officer for several successful start-up organizations.

Denis holds a Master of Science Certificate in Information Technology from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree from Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated with honors. He is a member of Alpha Chi Honor Society.

Adam Famularo is the general manager of Enterprise & Cloud Solutions at CA Technologies, leading the team driving the company’s new and innovative enterprise and cloud computing solutions. In this role, he is responsible for establishing and driving the overall vision and business strategy, including product management and marketing, thought leadership, and managing the P&L for the business.

Adam is currently serving as a Commissioner on the TechAmerica Foundation CLOUD2 Commission, developing recommendations for President Obama’s Administration on best practices for government cloud deployment, and for public policies to drive US innovation and economic growth.

Adam has been awarded several honors, including ranking first in CRN‘s Top 25 Most Innovative Executives 2010 and recognized as a Channel Chief in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Adam completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School, earned an MBA from Dowling College and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Jerry Fox, Jr. is a 25-year veteran of the Information Technology (IT) profession. As vice president and chief information officer at Rockwell Automation, Jerry is responsible for global IT strategies and solutions. Prior to joining Rockwell Automation in 2007, Jerry served as a senior IT leader at Dana Corporation, a Toledo, Ohio-based automotive parts supplier.

Throughout his career, Jerry has held IT leadership positions across a diverse set of industry segments. Before joining Dana Corporation, he served as principal contributor towards driving company-wide IT infrastructure synergy and standardization at Cardinal Health, a Fortune 20 medical service organization. He provided IT leadership at Reynolds and Reynolds, a provider of information management systems. Jerry began his professional IT career at Lexis-Nexis, a Dayton, Ohio, based electronic publisher.

Jerry holds a bachelor’s degree in MIS and an MBA from Ohio University.

Jake Freivald is the vice president of Corporate Marketing for Information Builders. In this position, Mr. Freivald is responsible for marketing operations: branding, marketing communications, events, Web marketing, and direct marketing. Prior to this role, Mr. Freivald was the vice president of Marketing for iWay Software, where he developed and executed all of iWay Software’s marketing strategies.

Mr. Freivald joined Information Builders in 1999, as a product manager for the Data Warehouse division where he supported cross-platform product development and deployment. He also became marketing manager for the Data Warehouse product line in 1999. During his career, Mr. Freivald has held several managerial positions with Andersen Consulting and Prudential Life Insurance Company of America. He also served in the United States Marine Corps as a Signals Intelligence Officer at First Radio Battalion.

He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1991.

Ron Gilson is the Johnsonville Sausage, LLC MIS Team Coach/CIO. He joined Johnsonville as a programmer in 1991, became coach of the Enterprise Applications Team in 1994 and has held his current position since 1998.

Ron received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. Outside of Johnsonville, Ron can be found spending time with family, traveling, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Bob Grawien is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for School Specialty, Inc. in Greenville, Wisconsin. In his current capacity, he is responsible for the overall strategy and execution of the Business Technology function at School Specialty, Inc, as well as the program management office and eCommerce sales support team.

Prior to joining School Specialty early in 2009, Bob spent 10 years at Schneider National in Green Bay, WI where he held positions of increasing responsibility across the information technology function, including enterprise architecture, product management and application development. Bob began his career with IBM where he held a variety of technical and management positions in IBM‘s server division and software group.

Bob completed the Information Technology Leadership Development Program at the Harvard Business School in 2007 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Math minor from the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.

Over the course of more than 27 years at Kohler Co., Davor has held a series of management and executive positions. He was named Vice President-Corporate Information Systems in 1997 and Vice President-IT and Global Procurement in 2002.

Davor is a 1980 graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Additionally, he is a 1982 graduate of University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, having earned a master’s degree in business administration. He reports to David Kohler, President and Chief Operating Officer.

Kristin Kirkconnell joined American Family in November 2008 as senior vice president, information services. Prior to joining American Family, Kristin served as chief information officer and senior vice president of information services and technology for Atlanta-based natural gas distribution company, AGL Resources, Inc. Kristin was responsible for leading the technology strategies, operations, implementation and support for this Fortune 1000 company, which provides natural gas services to 2.2 million customers in Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Florida.

A graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, Kristin has had additional executive experience with many large companies across varied industries.

Tom Koulopoulos is founder and CEO of Delphi Group, a Boston-based thought leadership firm providing advice to Global 200 organizations and governments for the last 15 years. Koulopoulos was named one of the industry’s six most influential information management consultants by InformationWeek magazine. He is recognized as an authority on the implications of information technology on global organizations, with articles appearing frequently in national and international print and broadcast media including BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC, CNN and NPR.

Koulopoulos is an author of six books, adjunct professor at the Boston College Graduate School of Management, and guest lecturer at Boston University School of Management and Harvard University. He is one of the industry’s most prolific thought leaders. His insights provide a beyond-the-edge view of the turbulence created by the collision of technology and business. Tom Peters has called his writing “a brilliant vision of where we must take our enterprises to survive and thrive.”

His insights have received wide praised highly by luminaries such as Peter Drucker, Dee Hock (founder of Visa International), and Jim Champy (co-author of Reengineering the Corporation). According to Peter Drucker, “Tom’s writing makes you question not only the way you run your business but the way you run yourself.” His current book, Smartsourcing the Enterprise: How to Drive Innovation, Jobs, and Growth in the age of Globalization, looks at the core drivers and and broad implications of outsourcing and globalization.

Steve Krenz currently serves as a Program Director for Compuware Corporation, and has contributed leadership for multiple practice groups including Operations, IT Service Management, Virtualization, and Project Management/Governance. Steve is currently managing a mobility delivery solution for a strategic partner, and has instrumental in the development of the delivery and administration approach. Steve’s background is in network engineering and systems administration, with a Business Administration and Management educational background.

Dr. LaFontaine is responsible for setting the direction of IBM‘s overall Research Strategy across eleven worldwide labs and leading the global operations and information systems teams.

Dr. LaFontaine previously held the position of General Manager, Global Technology Services, Middle East and Africa. In this role, Dr. LaFontaine had the mandate to drive hyper growth for IBM services business in this emerging market including opening new countries in Africa for IBM. Prior to this role, Dr. LaFontaine was Vice President, Licensing and Business Development, for IBM‘s Intellectual Property Business. In this capacity, Dr. LaFontaine had the worldwide responsibility for licensing IBM‘s patent, trademark and domain name portfolio. In addition, Dr. LaFontaine’s team played a critical role in the creation of technology based strategic alliances with partners around the world. In previous positions at IBM, Dr. LaFontaine was Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Service for IBM Technology Group. During Dr. LaFontaine’s 20 year career at IBM he led product and process development teams as well as sales, marketing, and operations organizations in Japan, Singapore and North America. Dr. LaFontaine’s International experience includes assignments in Japan, Singapore and South Africa. Dr. LaFontaine is the recipient of several US and native patents.

Dr. LaFontaine currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University. Dr. LaFontaine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University.

Brent Leland brings over 20 years of business and information technology experience to his Chief Information Officer role at Trek. He joined the company in 2007 to focus on modernizing Trek’s systems and creating business driven information solutions. He is passionate about IT taking a proactive role in implementing better business processes.

Prior to joining Trek, Brent worked as the Director of Business Information Technology at Spectrum Brands (formerly Rayovac) where he was involved in the acquisition and integration of more than a dozen companies. Previously, he held various business and engineering roles for Hewlett-Packard, Space Systems/Loral, and General Dynamics.

Brent holds an MBA from Stanford and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida.

Philip is the VP of IS and CIO at Aurora Health Care, where he is responsible for defining and implementing the IT component of Aurora’s strategic goal of providing an integrated approach to health care delivery. Previously, he was SVP and CIO at Caremark where he implemented the move to a paperless mail order pharmacy system based on electronic documentation and workflow, developed one of the major systems supporting the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, and launched a high performance eBusiness Internet website with several million active users. He has 25 years of IT experience in the pharmaceutical industry with GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and what is now AstraZeneca, working extensively in both Europe and the US.

A co-founder of Greenplum, Luke served as CTO of the organization and continues in this role for the Data Computing Products Division. Prior to Greenplum, Luke founded Didera, a database clustering company, in 2000 and served as CEO and Chairman. Luke’s background includes 16 years of management experience in computing technology ranging from innovations in supercomputing to advances in medical imaging systems. Most recently, he directed data center integration at High Performance Technologies Inc (HPTi), scaling the business to $30M, and setting industry firsts in parallel computing subsequently adopted by IBM and Compaq. Previously he held management positions at Northrop Grumman Corporation. He holds an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a B.E. in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University.

Bruce Maas is the CIO and Vice Provost for Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served the University of Wisconsin System in a variety of roles over a career of more than 30 years, including Budget Manager, Assistant Dean for Business Affairs, PeopleSoft Project Manager, Deputy CIO, Service Center Transition Coordinator, and CIO at two UW institutions.

Bruce has served as the Director of the EDUCAUSE Leadership Institute, a faculty member of the institute, and as chair of the Midwest EDUCAUSE conference. He is an active presenter at EDUCAUSE conferences, and believes strongly in the importance of organized employee development. He is s strong advocate for central and distributed IT collaborations and partnerships. Bruce is focused on the core mission of higher education, and believes it is a privilege to serve that mission.

Alisa Maclin is Vice President of Marketing for IBM‘s Smarter Commerce Initiative. Smarter Commerce is a unique approach designed to help companies better integrate and more effectively manage their value chain — including buy, market, sell, and service processes — to put the customer at the center of decisions and actions. IBM‘s Smarter Commerce portfolio consists of software solutions, including over $2.5B in recent acquisitions, as well as consulting and implementation services, and workload optimized systems. Previously, Ms. Maclin was Vice President of Market Strategy and Planning for IBM Global Business Services, with responsibility for developing and executing marketing strategy for IBM‘s consulting and application management business worldwide. Ms. Maclin has more than 20 years of global marketing and sales leadership experience at IBM, including executive roles

Mark McDonald heads up the global research team for Gartner Executive Programs, a $150 million dollar business unit at Gartner Inc headquartered in Stamford CT. Mark is responsible for the global CIO agenda and developing market leading research supporting more than 3,500 CIO members.

Mark has extensive experience working with business and technology executives. Prior to joining Gartner, Mark was a partner with Accenture where he was responsible for the Centre for Process Excellence. Prior to those responsibilities, Mark was a release manager and solutions developer for Accenture.

Mark currently lives outside Chicago, he graduated from Colgate University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics, he has a Masters from Trinity College, Hartford CT in Economics and Finance and a Ph.D. in Technology Policy Management from TU Delft in the Netherlands.

He is the co-Author of the The Social Organization: how to use social media to tap the collective genius of your customers and employees. He has also authored numerous articles and studies on the application of technology to create business value.

Edward Meachen is Associate Vice President for Learning and Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin System. In June 1997 he was asked to step into the position on an interim basis and was officially appointed Associate Vice President in March 1998. Prior to coming to UW System Administration, Ed was Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Services at UW-Parkside for eight years and the Director of the Library Learning Center at UW-Parkside for two years. In 2000 Ed helped establish the Academic ADL Co-Lab and continues to serve as the Co-Lab Commission Chair.

He was appointed as a member to the Council of Chief Information Officers for the UW System in 1995 and currently serves as its Chair. He has served as a member of the UW System Distance Education Steering Committee as well as the UW System Task Force on Academic Computing and Emerging Technology.

As Senior Director of Information Technology (IT) of Sargento Foods Inc., Sue oversees all of the Sargento IT functions, including the development, implementation and support of information systems, security and compliance, data management and integrity, and project/portfolio management. Sue’s unique background allows her to work closely with departments to properly align IT and business strategy. Sue joined Sargento in 1997 and has held various management positions in Finance, including supporting the Consumer Products Division business decisions and leading the implementation of key software solutions. Prior to her current position in IT, Sue was the Assistant Treasurer. Before joining Sargento, she spent twelve years with the Kohler Co. in various Finance and Accounting roles.

Sue is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a degree in Finance, and also earned an MBA from UW-Milwaukee. Sue is also a licensed CPA.

Greg is responsible developing new business processes and systems to support American Family’s Property and Casualty business. He came to American Family after seven years at Sentry Insurance, where he was Vice President, IT and Corporate CIO. Prior to joining Sentry, Greg worked as a consultant for ten years. His clients included many of Wisconsin’s leading companies, including Miller Brewing, Harley-Davidson, Kohler Co., Pleasant Company, and American Breeders Service.

Greg is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with degrees in Computer Engineering and English Literature. Greg and his wife Connie McElrone have two children and live in Madison.

Kay Plantes is an MIT-trained economist, business strategy consultant, columnist and author. She helps enterprises of all sizes and sectors accelerate marketplace, customer and financial success by innovating their business models, improving their marketing processes and enhancing the effectiveness of their leadership team. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Kay led strategy and business development for a global medical equipment company now part of GE Health. She is a contributing columnist for WTN News and Chuck Frey’s Innovation Tools newsletter and writes a weekly blog on business model innovation. A frequent keynote speaker, Kay is the also lead author of “Beyond Price: Differentiate Your Company in Ways that Really Matter.” The book’s guide to business model innovation was adopted by ICanPilot for its sales and marketing project management tools offering.

Kay served a Chief Economist and Director of Policy Development for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce under then Governor Lee Dreyfus and moved to Wisconsin to be an Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Wisconsin, Madison following completion of her PhD at MIT and her BS in Business Administration at The Pennsylvania State University.

Bruce Richardson is SVP and Chief Enterprise Strategist at Salesforce.com. He brings with him more than 30 years of experience in High Tech. In this role, he oversees the Enterprise Strategy team which is responsible for the company’s engagement with executives from IT, sales, marketing, and operations. Bruce joined Salesforce.com October of 2011.

His link to Salesforce.com began during his tenure as Chief Research Officer at AMR Research. During his 20-year career there, he led the firm’s coverage of ERP/enterprise applications, virtualization and cloud computing, visual applications, and the “future of work.” Over that period, the company grew from a three person start-up to become the leader in research and analysis of enterprise applications and supply chain management. AMR was acquired by Gartner in December 2009.

Rick Roy is the Chief Information Officer for CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wisconsin. He directs the strategy, planning, and deployment of all information technology functions for CUNA Mutual and its affiliates. Before being named CIO in October 2008, Rick served as Senior Vice President of Customer Operations for the company from 2006 to 2008. He directed all customer service and operations functions including claims, call centers, and customer implementations and training. Prior to joining CUNA Mutual, Rick was Senior Vice President and General Manager of product development at Metavante Corporation.

Rick holds a Master’s Degree in business from Marquette University and a Bachelor’s Degree in management information systems from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Rick has completed additional management programs at Harvard Law School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Chris Sarandos was appointed CIO for the State of Wisconsin in August 2011. As the CIO, he also serves as Division Administrator for the Division of Enterprise Technology (DET). DET manages the state’s IT assets and provides technology to state agencies such as computer services, voice-data-video telecommunications, and print and mail services. The division also provides geographic information systems (GIS) services to state agencies, organizations and local governments.

Chris previously served as Acting CIO and Deputy CIO for the Peace Corps, as NATO Director, and various CIO positions within the US Air Force.

Tim Schaefer is Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee, WI. In this role, Tim has responsibility for planning, development and deployment of the company’s information technology resources to meet the business needs of the company’s risk and investment product lines, corporate functions and the almost 7,000 financial representatives in 350 network offices across the United States. Tim has been with Northwestern Mutual 20 years serving in a number of IT and non-IT leadership roles. Tim earned a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Masters degree in organizational behavior from Silver Lake College and has completed the Leadership at the Peak Program at the Center for Creative Leadership. In the community, Tim is on the Board of Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Steve Schlecht is the CEO of Duluth Trading Company which he purchased in 2001 and morphed from a catalog with a niche line of tool carriers to a leading proprietary work and casual clothing company, marketing to both men and women. Duluth Trading is a multi-channel retailer known for its creative flair and innovative products. Prior to Duluth Trading Co., he was founder of GEMPLER‘s, a a hybrid B2B direct marketer to the outdoor work marketplace with its 600 page catalog, which he sold to the Lab Safety division of WW Grainger in 2003.

Steve has previously worked at Jewel Companies as a divisional merchandising vice president. He received his MBA from Northwestern University and lives with his wife Marianne near Madison, Wisconsin. Their son heads up new product development at Duluth Trading Company.

Igor Steinberg is the Chief Information Officer at Madison College and has been serving in this role since 2010. Since joining the College in 2006, Igor has been responsible for major upgrades of the College’s enterprise and student administration systems, redesign and implementation of both the enterprise data and storage networks, implementation of unified communications, and the world’s first deployment of Cisco TelePresence for instruction. As CIO, Igor’s primary focus is to leverage information technology as a catalyst for organizational change and to transform the IT department to serve this role.

Prior to joining Madison College, Igor served as Director-Infrastructure Management at TDS Telecom. He holds Masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Steve Tack is Chief Technology Officer of Application Performance Management Solutions at Compuware where he leads the expansion of the company’s APM product portfolio and market presence.

Prior to being named CTO, Tack was Vice President of Product Management and Strategy where he was the driving force behind the company’s Vantage product strategy and execution, prioritizing product and customer requirements, defining the product vision, and working closely with development, sales, marketing to ensure the product supported the company’s business objectives.

Steve has extensive experience working with customers in the field to understand their industry, challenges, risks and strategic business needs. His area of expertise includes: application and web performance management, SaaS, cloud computing, end-user experience monitoring, cloud performance and mobile applications.

Dr. Raj Veeramani is the Robert Ratner Chair Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and the Wisconsin School of Business. He is the Executive Director and founder of the UW E-Business Consortium, established December 1998, and the campus-wide UW E-Business Institute, established October 2003.

Dr. Veeramani is an internationally recognized scholar, educator and business advisor. His expertise runs deep in several areas of business: e-business strategy, supply chain management, RFID technology and applications, IT-business alignment and building customer-centered organizations. Dr. Veeramani is recognized for his practical, real-world perspective. His work has embodied active collaboration with leading companies in a variety of industries, helping them develop e-business strategies and implementation roadmaps.

Dr. Veeramani received his PhD and MS degrees in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He joined the UW-Madison faculty in 1992.