Willam S. Balint has been the chief information officer at Indiana University of Pennsylvania since 2006 and has served in a variety of information technology-related roles at IUP beginning in 1989. He is a founding member and former president of the Pennsylvania Banner User Group and is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Chief Information Technology Officers (CITO) Group. He has presented at international conferences on project management and higher education IT organizational design issues and was invited to testify before a state legislature sub-committee regarding IT’s impact on personal privacy. Prior to joining IUP, he served as the national systems administrator for the Internal Revenue Service’s statistics of income division.
James M. Barbaglia has twenty-eight years of health care information technology experience and is currently the senior vice president and chief information officer for Valley Baptist Health System. His professional experience in the information technology industry ranges from consultant to chief information officer. Mr. Barbaglia’s background includes strategic planning, enterprise resource planning (ERP), organizational retooling, packaged enabled re-engineering, procurement, deployment, project management, e-commerce, and human resource management. He also has an extensive background with software vendors and integrated solutions.
Craig Crosby has more than eighteen years of legal technology experience and is responsible for the technology and data systems and support services at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, where he is director of information systems. Procopio is one of the largest full-service business law firms in Southern California—a local law firm with a global network that has the ability to serve its clients’ interests throughout the world. Mr. Crosby is responsible for the planning and implementation of the technology vision for the firm. He joined Procopio in 2003, bringing with him more than a decade of experience at AmLaw 100 firms. He has a proven track record of building talented teams of technology specialists and providing reliable and cost-effective business solutions.
Bob Dunmire, vice president, technology services, is responsible for overseeing all application development and information technology activities of Global Contact Services. He brings more than ten years of teleservices experience to GCS. Before joining GCS, Mr. Dunmire was in the Internet card marketing division of one of the world’s top five financial institutions. He also has deep experience in the teleservices industry, having served in operations and human resources capacities for one of the nation’s largest teleservices agencies.
Mark Ohlund lives outside Pittsburgh. He attained a Bachelor of Science degree in applied math/computer science and a Master of Science degree in industrial administration, both from Carnegie Mellon. Mr. Ohland has more than twenty-five years of technology and executive leadership experience in a number of industries. He serves as vice president, technology strategy, for PLS Logistics Services.
Chuck Owlett has had only two jobs in his more than twenty-five-year professional career. His first position was with Computer Sciences Corporation, where he rose as an entry-level new college graduate working on analytical and simulation modeling of voice and data networks to the staff of the Systems Division president working on major new business initiatives. Subsequently, he joined PEC Solutions (then Performance Engineering Corporation) as a business area manager. The company grew dramatically as its business switched from acquisition support consulting to a top-fifty federal systems integration and solutions provider. Mr. Owlett had increasing levels of responsibility rising from vice president of the Development Division to senior vice president and general manager of the Civilian Government Solutions Operation. He was part of the senior executive leadership team when the company went public. Mr. Owlett excels in software development and systems and network design, as well as systems integration. He led organizations that became CMM- and CMMI-certified (Capability Maturity Model Integration). In 2004, Mr. Owlett was named chief technology officer and took on IT internal controls addressing the company’s Sarbanes Oxley requirements. Working closely with the internal IT, F&A (facilities and administrative), and internal and external audit staff, he revised, created, implemented, and enforced IT policies and procedures, successfully leading PEC Solutions IT through the tumult of being an early filer. In 2005, PEC Solutions was acquired by Nortel Networks and merged with Nortel Federal Systems Inc. Mr. Owlett was named the chief information officer of the new company. He led the retooling of NGS’ IT infrastructure and financial systems, a project that took close to a year from start to finish. Nortel Government Solutions’ new converged network infrastructure is based entirely on Nortel products. The infrastructure comprises Nortel routers, switches, firewalls, and threat protection systems. NGS boasts a Nortel network management system, VoIP phone system, call center, voice mail system, wireless LAN, and wireless mesh networks. NGS also has a Nortel Multimedia Communications System providing integrated data, voice, and video communications and application services. In parallel with the IT improvements, Mr. Owlett worked closely with the F&A and other corporate staff as they worked to streamline their processes and systems. He was the technical lead for NGS’s Project Unity, resulting in a single, integrated Deltek-based financial management system. He has subsequently evaluated, acquired, and now operates a business intelligence, earned value management, and Web-based collaboration system in support of program management and new business development. In addition to being responsible for NGS’s IT, Mr. Owlett also manages the company’s facilities organization and real estate. As a member of the NGS CEO’s cabinet, he continues to support the mission of the corporation.
Douglas S. Patchin is a recognized senior-level business and technology strategist with more than fifteen years of experience specializing in positioning technology to drive business. He currently serves as the vice president of technology and e-business for Norwood Promotional Products and is responsible for all aspects of Norwood’s global IT infrastructure and business applications, support, and maintenance. Although his main objective is to supervise the IT and e-business departments at the corporate and manufacturing site levels, a large component of his job is to educate business- and executive-level management about IT-related issues and opportunities that directly affect Norwood’s profitability and competitive edge. Mr. Patchin has held many roles within Norwood, including director and vice president of Internet marketing. He also serves on several local technology boards and was a finalist in Junior Achievement’s “Indy’s Best and Brightest,” Technology, in 2004 and 2005.
Mark J. Piwinsky, Ph.D. has been a professor and co-coordinator of the doctoral program in Communications Media at Indiana University of Pennsylvania since 2007. Prior to this appointment, he served as vice provost for administration and technology at IUP, where he oversaw the operations of the academic program and the implementation of many technology initiatives and served as a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Chief Information Technology Officers (CITO) Group. Prior to coming to IUP, Dr. Piwinsky served as director of analysis and planning at The Ohio State University. His Ph.D. in political science is from Ohio State.
Rick Proctor, vice president, information technology, for Thomas Nelson Publishers Inc., has been in information technology leadership for more than twenty years, working in both the public and the private sectors. He has undergraduate degrees in information systems and business administration, as well as an M.B.A. Mr. Proctor is married and has two boys. He enjoys running, is active in his church, is a youth hockey coach, and volunteers as an adult leader with the Boy Scouts of America.
With seventeen years of IT consulting experience and a proven track record of reducing IT budgets, L. Clark Sandlin is ushering in a new era of right-sized technology. He believes that it is the responsibility of the IT industry to change their service ethic and cost-consciousness toward technology. A current active member of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Sandlin has created an IT consultancy advocate company, Zyrka, to help companies cut through the techno-babble. Mr. Sandlin is president and chief executive officer of Zyrka. In his personal time, Mr. Sandlin actively supports the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and the Dallas Stars.
George K. “Chip” Tsantes is chief technology officer and executive vice president of Intersections Inc. Mr. Tsantes joined Intersections Inc. as chief technology officer in January 2005. Intersections Inc. (NASDAQ: INTX) is a leading provider of branded and fully customized identity management solutions in North America. Additionally, through majority-owned Screening International LLC, Intersections provides pre-employment background screening services domestically and internationally in partnership with Control Risks Group Limited of the United Kingdom. In this role, Mr. Tsantes leads all technology activities including development, IT operations, and IT security across all business units. In addition, Mr. Tsantes is responsible for developing new services related to strong consumer authentication. The patented Intersections authentication framework provides a platform to manage and integrate the disparate technology solutions for providing and managing good authentication. Mr. Tsantes is the lead inventor of U.S. Patent 7,333,635 B2, Method and System for Confirming Personal Identity. Co-chair of the Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) Working Group 3, collaboration between ANSI and the Better Business Bureau, Mr. Tsantes is a frequent speaker at industry events, including the FTC’s (Federal Trade Commission’s) Proof Positive, Security in Numbers, RSA Security Conference, and The Voice Biometrics Conference. Mr. Tsantes is an expert witness for the FTC in consumer authentication. Prior to joining Intersections, Mr. Tsantes was a partner in Accenture’s Capital Markets Group, part of the global firm’s financial services practice and a member of its FSI Technology leadership. His clients included major global financial institutions, many of which are Intersections’ clients. Mr. Tsantes earned a B.A. in management from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1983 and an M.B.A. with an M.I.S. concentration from Old Dominion University in 1986.
Kevin Vasconi is the senior vice president and chief information officer for R.L. Polk and president of RLP Technologies. Mr. Vasconi’s responsibilities as CIO include all aspects of technology delivery and management for Polk, including re-engineering, technical operations, security policy and technology, architecture, new product development, technical strategy, data hygiene and maintenance, production fulfillment, and sales support. Mr. Vasconi was appointed president of RLP Technologies in February 2005. Mr. Vasconi joined Polk after serving as SVP and chief technology officer for Covisint LLC, one of the world’s largest business-to-business e-commerce exchanges formed as a joint venture among Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Nissan, and PSA. He was also part of the senior management team that formed Auto-xchange, an Internet business-to-business joint venture between Ford and Oracle, where he served as chief technical officer. Prior to Auto-xchange, Mr. Vasconi served in numerous positions at Ford Motor Company, including chief technology officer of Consumer Connect Organizations; technology executive for E-Commerce Strategy & New Business Development; and manager for World Wide Web and Internet Applications Development. Before joining Ford in 1988, he held several technical and engineering positions at Allen-Bradley and General Motors. InfoWorld named Mr. Vasconi one of the twenty-five Most Influential CTOs 2002. He also received the CIO Magazine Top 100 award in 2001 and 2002. Mr. Vasconi serves on the CTO Advisory Council for Information World magazine, the Advisory Board of the CIO Group Inc., Oracle’s Business Intelligence Advisory Board, and SAS’s CTO’s Advisory Board.
