Munir Mandviwalla

JOHN T. MARCANTE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

John T. Marcante is Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division. Vanguard is the world’s largest mutual fund company with more than $2.6 trillion in global assets under management. Mr. Marcante oversees all aspects of Vanguard’s worldwide technology agenda to serve clients and manage investments.

Mr. Marcante, with more than 26 years of experience in the business and technology fields, joined Vanguard in 1993. After serving in a number of leadership roles throughout the company, he returned to the IT division in 2012 and was named Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Marcante led Vanguard’s Institutional IT organization, supporting Vanguard’s Institutional Investor Group, which serves institutions, such as endowments and foundations, and is a leading provider of company-sponsored retirement plans.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, Mr. Marcante became the head of Global Technology Operations, focusing on data center management and disaster recovery. He was responsible for building out and managing Vanguard’s global infrastructure. From there, Mr. Marcante moved from IT to lead Vanguard’s Unmatchable Excellence program in 2004, where he managed Black Belts throughout the company with the chief purpose of creating an internal Six Sigma and Lean consulting organization focused on helping Vanguard’s businesses achieve their strategic goals. The following year, Mr. Marcante rotated to Vanguard’s Advice Services organization, where he managed CFPs (Certified Financial Planners) with the mission of re-engineering how Vanguard serves clients with financial advice.

In 2006, Mr. Marcante assumed leadership of Vanguard’s Asset Management Services and the Flagship group, which serves high-net-worth individuals. He led a major effort to reinvent the Flagship service model to maximize client loyalty. Mr. Marcante began his IT career at General Electric in a two-year Info System Management program and held various leadership roles while there. He earned his B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

LINDA DESCANO

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Linda Descano, CFA®, is Managing Director and Head of Content and Social at Citi, responsible for social media and content marketing efforts for the U.S. consumer businesses. Linda also serves as President and CEO of Women & Co., Citi’s award-winning digital publisher of financial lifestyle content.

Over her 20 years at Citi, Linda has had a very diverse career, holding a number of roles across different businesses and functions. She joined Citi predecessor Salomon Inc. in 1994 as Vice President of Environmental Affairs. In 1999, Linda became a director and portfolio manager at Citi’s Private Portfolio Group. Linda joined Women & Co. in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer and was named CEO in 2010. She also served as Chief Administrative Officer of Global Marketing & Corporate Affairs from 2008-2010. Linda assumed her current responsibilities in 2012.

Linda is a regular contributor to Citi’s Financial Fitness blog, Women & Co. and Manilla.com and a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program, writing on an array of personal finance, career and leadership, and marketing topics. She was selected as one of GoBankingRates.com’s Most Popular Personal Finance Experts in 2013.

An accomplished speaker, Linda has spoken at hundreds of conferences on an array of personal finance, content marketing, and career topics. She is regularly sought out by the media for her expertise, and has been quoted in: Smart Money Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Business News Daily, MORE Magazine, American Banker, Digiday, Ad Age, The Daily Rap on the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, The Washington Post, Yahoo Shine, MSN Money, Forbes Woman and many more. She has contributed to countless newspapers and websites including The Huffington Post and Working Mother.

Among her many accomplishments, Linda was honored as one of “10 Women Who Run the World” at the 2013 More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon, and is the recipient of a Changing the Game Award from the Advertising Women of New York in 2013; a Women of Excellence Award from the National Association of Female Executives in 2012; a Luminary Award from Womensphere in 2011; a Corporate w2wlink Ascendancy Award in 2009; and a Wise Woman of the Year Award by the National Organization of Italian American Women in 2008. Linda also will receive the Pinnacle in Leadership Award from the Girl Scouts of Greater New York in April 2014.

Passionate about community service, Linda is on the Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., the Director’s Council of the Penn Museum, and the advisory boards of Eve Echo, Fab&Fru and Generations. Linda currently serves as president-elect of New York Women in Communications and is an executive member of Advertising Women of New York. She is the past national vice chair of Step Up Women’s Network. She also is a member of the Financial Women’s Association, New York Society of Security Analysts, and National Organization of Italian-American Women.

A native of Philadelphia, Linda attended Temple University and Texas A&M University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Geology and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

Fourteenth Annual IT Awards

The Fourteenth Annual Fox IT Awards were held on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 and featured the Fox IT leader Award for John T. Marcante, Chief Information Officer and Managing Director, The Vanguard Group, Inc., the Fox IT Innovator Award for Matthew Gillin, CEO, Relay Network, LLC, and the Fox IT Award for Distinguished Alumni for Linda Descano, Managing Director and Head of Content and Social Citigroup Inc.

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The event also featured awards for students, faculty, and staff:

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARD Joshua Wise	NIRAJ AND CARA PATEL SCHOLARSHIP Annamarie Filippone
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Jennifer O’Malley Andrew Roche	JOHN H. SHAIN SCHOLARSHIP Matthew Oberst
RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD Paul Pavlou	IBIT MERCK SCHOLARSHIP Carrie Graham
FACULTY LEADERSHIP AWARD Mart Doyle	IBIT CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY SCHOLARSHIP Usama Muhammad Baqai
TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD David Schuff	IBIT LOCKHEED MARTIN SCHOLARSHIP Gregory Krolikowski
ADJUNCT OF THE YEAR AWARD Dina Lichtman	IBIT WALMART SCHOLARSHIP Elizabeth V Calise
ADMINISTRATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Magen Sheeran	FOX IT ADVISORY BOARD SCHOLARSHIP Tyler Ogg Tyler Nelson Nicholas Aigeldinger Lauren Sirianni Emily Dryden Robin Hibbard
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD Karen Murtha	ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS Outstanding Officer: Puja Shah Outstanding Member: Mark Klobukov

Click here for high resolution downloadable pictures

IT Advisory Board funds new annual $50,000 scholarship program

The IT Advisory Board, comprising top business leaders from multiple industries, has announced a new scholarship program to begin in Fall of 2014. Funded on a voluntary basis and managed by the board’s members, the scholarship grants select students awards of $5,000 toward tuition each year, totaling approximately $50,000 awarded annually.

Just how are the students chosen? We spoke with Advisory Board Chairman Bruce Fadem, former CIO and VP of Wyeth, who cited as primary criteria exceptional academic achievement, previous accomplishments, and future potential. “A minimum GPA will be used to screen candidates,” said Fadem. “The board will also consider need in their decision-making process.”

The Fox IT Advisory Board

Bruce Fadem (Chair), Former VP & CIO, Wyeth
Andrea Anania, Former VP & CIO, CIGNA
Michael Bradshaw, VP & CIO, Lockheed Martin
Jonathan A. Brassington, Founding Partner, CEO, LiquidHub Inc.
Rich Cohen, Managing Director, Deloitte
Craig Conway, CTO, Livingston International
Larry Dignan, Editor-in-Chief, ZDnet
Jeff Hamilton, SVP, Business Technology, Pfizer
Ben-Saba Hasan, SVP – IT, Walmart
David Kaufman, Executive Consultant & Partner, FIN Strategy Advisers
George Llado, VP – IT, Merck & Co., Inc.
Tim O’Rourke, VP & CIO, Temple University
Matt Pammer, VP – IS, AstraZeneca
Niraj Patel, Chief Strategy Officer, Elsag North America
Kent Seinfeld, Retired SVP & CIO, Commerce Bank
Joseph Spagnoletti, SVP & CIO, Campbell Soup Company
Joe Weiss, Chairman, Electronic Ink

Further details about all the IBIT managed scholarships are available at: http://ibit.temple.edu/programs/scholarships/

14th Annual IT Awards Honor Citi, Relay and Vanguard Execs

Temple University’s Fox School of Business is honoring three top technology leaders at its 14th annual Information Technology Awards on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, on Temple University’s Main Campus. The nationally ranked Department of Management Information Systems (MIS) and the Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) organize this premier event for Greater Philadelphia’s technology community.

Awardees include Linda Descano, Managing Director and Head of Content and Social at Citi; Matthew Gillin, CEO and co-founder of Relay; and John T. Marcante, Chief Information Officer of Vanguard and Managing Director of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division.

“Linda, Matt and John represent a remarkable level of excellence and commitment to leveraging IT in innovative ways to improve business and lives,” Fox School of Business Dean M. Moshe Porat said. “They also join a distinguished and deserving list of Fox IT Award honorees, who all serve as models for our students.”

Descano will receive the Fox Information Technology Award for Distinguished Alumni for her work in the IT field and her contributions to the community, to industry and to Temple University. In addition to her responsibilities for content and social at Citi, she also is President and CEO of Women & Co., a Citi-incubated and owned financial lifestyle resource for women. Descano is a LinkedIn Influencer whose commentary on topics such as personal finance, career and leadership, and content marketing has appeared in countless publications including The Huffington Post, Reuters, Fox Business, U.S. News, MORE Magazine, American Banker and MSN Money, among others. Descano also serves on the board of directors of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., is president-elect of New York Women in Communications and is an executive member of Advertising Women of New York (AWNY).

Gillin will receive the Fox Information Technology Innovator Award. Gillin, who previously co-founded and served as the CEO for Ecount Inc., which was acquired by Citi in 2007, has won a number of awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Walter M. Aikman Entrepreneur of the Year Award. As CEO of Relay, Gillin oversees the strategy and day-to-day operations of a company that connects trusted brands with people through direct mobile communication so they can effortlessly get stuff done.

Marcante will receive the Fox Information Technology Leader Award for his leadership in the use and development of IT in business. Marcante is CIO and managing director of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division. With more than 26 years of experience in the business and technology fields, he has been with Vanguard since 1993. Prior to becoming CIO in 2012, Marcante held a number of leadership roles within the company, including rotations leading Global Technology Operations, overseeing Vanguard’s internal Six Sigma organization, and managing Vanguard’s High Net Worth business.

“In a world increasingly dominated by digital business models, the 2014 Fox School IT Award recipients are true role models for MIS students, who are learning digital business innovation and how to lead revenue growth in a digital economy,” said Munir Mandviwalla, founding chair of the MIS Department.