IBIT

Engages with industry to develop digital knowledge and talent

Fox Information Technology Award Recipients

DR. BARBARA “BOBBI” KURSHAN

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD

Dr. Barbara (Bobbi) Kurshan, the co-author of InnovateHERs – Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top, has honed her vision of “what can be” using technology while supporting education companies and developing innovative products. She currently serves as a Senior Innovation Advisor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania where she builds and advises education innovation ecosystems and co-directs the global certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

As the President of ECC, she provides strategic consulting in the areas of investment, digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and innovation. As the past Executive Director of Curriki, Bobbi helped to build one of the most innovative global open-source education communities. Dr. Kurshan has previously served as the Co-CEO of Core Learning, an education investment fund, and the Chief Academic Officer of bigchalk, one of the first online digital libraries with K-12 educational content.

As an investor she has invested in numerous edtech startups including Fablevision, Mindprint Learning, SoWork, Mindstone, BoxMedia and The Qgroup, a language learning company that she took from startup to IPO. She currently serves on the corporate board of American Public Education Inc.; and advises several edtech companies including Thinkster, Educonnective, RobotLabs, and TeachMe TV. She is the author of several books, articles and regularly blogs for Forbes.com. Her new book InnovateHERs is now available on Amazon.

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL IT AWARDS

HIMESH BHISE

Himesh Bhise

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Himesh is the CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC), a trusted technology, services, and revenue partner for over 100 Internet service providers, 1000 publishers, and 4000 enterprise customers around the world.  He has led the turnaround of the business through organic growth and M&A, putting it on track to deliver revenue of over $140M, its third year of growth, and profitability.

Himesh joined Synacor from Comcast where as VP, New Services and Platforms his team incubated and operated a portfolio that spanned video services, cloud services, payment platforms, advertising, next-gen set-top boxes, and digital marketing.

As VP and General Manager and Corporate VP Revenue Development, Himesh led the Broadband business at Charter Communications.  He outperformed the industry in data revenue growth, developed multi-platform video services, drove higher broadband speeds, and launched a rapidly adopted wireless networking service.

Prior, Himesh was the VP and General Manager of AOL Mobile and created a leader in messaging, search, and entertainment products working with carriers and OEM’s around the world. He started his career as an Associate Partner in the Telecom and M&A practices of McKinsey & Company.

Himesh received his MBA from the Wharton School, and his MA in Economics from Temple University. He has received several industry recognitions such as the Cablefax100 list of the most powerful executives in cable and the Most Innovative People in Multiscreen.

NINETEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

JOHN K. COLLIER

John Collier

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD

John Collier is a value-driven digital innovation leader and entrepreneur with extensive cross-industry technology design and development experience. He started as a designer and that perspective continues to guide his career in leading technology design and architecture at Fortune 500 companies.

Currently, Mr. Collier is Vice President, Chief Information Officer at Wawa, Inc. He is responsible for establishing the strategic direction for Wawa’s expanding technology and business services. John leads technology strategy, development, implementation and ongoing operations for Wawa, Inc.

Previously, Mr. Collier was Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer for TracFone Wireless, Inc., America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. John was responsible for all aspects of technology, including identifying new business models, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) commerce hosting product, and an industry leading ubiquitous multi-carrier platform featuring an unprecedented consumer mobile experience.

As Corporate Vice President – Global Chief Architect for Walmart, John led technology architecture strategy across 28 countries and was charged to establish the Intellectual Property Management and Monetization organization. He designed such public facing strategies as “Clicks and Bricks”, Pick-Up Today, Price Match Guarantee, Savings Catcher and Disc to Digital.

He is credited with several patents including an industry altering Flexible Store Fulfillment patent. John holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from Ball State University.

NINETEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

ANGELA HEISE

Angela Heise

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

Angela Heise is President of the Civil Group at Leidos. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing solutions to U.S. Cabinet-level civil agencies and major elements of the public and private sector across the globe. Focus areas include air traffic automation, energy and the environment, federal infrastructure and logistics, IT and cybersecurity, and homeland and transportation security.

Prior to this role, Heise served as vice president of Commercial Markets for Lockheed Martin-Commercial Cyber, where she was responsible for the delivery of a portfolio of cybersecurity and information technology solutions and services to commercial Global 1000 customers.

Heise holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and is an alumna of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

She was recently named to SIUE’s Alumni Hall of Fame as well as Washington Exec’s Top 25 Executives to Watch in 2018, in what has been dubbed as The Year of the Transformational Leader.  Heise was also recognized in 2013 as one of Federal Computing Week’s Top 100 Executives and in 2012 as one of Aviation Week’s Top 40 Under 40.

NINETEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

JOHN TURNER

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

Turner, Vice President and CIO, Information Technology, leads the global information technology organization at 3M. In this role, he oversees an array of 3M’s global IT functions, from infrastructure and applications to client-facing and digital-commerce solutions. He leads a team of more than 1,600 3Mers and 2,000 professional services resources.

Since assuming his role in 2013, Turner and his team have contributed significantly to 3M—rationalizing more than 3,000 applications with primary area ERPs, standardizing processes and reducing cost to serve with an end-to-end SAP solution. As part of 3M’s business transformation, his team has also established a robust technology governance structure and implemented new cloud solutions, global service models and digital commerce solutions.

Turner joined 3M in 1990 and has served in a variety of IT and financial roles with the company. Most recently, he was director of 3M’s global IT infrastructure services group.

Prior to joining 3M, he served in various finance roles at Honeywell.

Turner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Minnesota, and is a Certified Professional Contracts Manager.

EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS