IBIT

Engages with industry to develop digital knowledge and talent

Fox Information Technology Award Recipients

JAMES RHEE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD

James Rhee, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Ashley Stewart, is an impact-focused entrepreneur, investor, operator and educator. As both CEO and investment firm founder, Mr. Rhee has generated market-leading returns by creating bespoke capital and operational solutions through the contemporaneous application of algorithmic, technological and cultural change. He has a uniquely diverse network and knowledge base spanning the private equity, retail/consumer, venture and media/technology communities. At Ashley Stewart, as Chairman and CEO, Mr. Rhee has authored and executed upon an innovative complement of CRM, digital and organizational changes that have transformed a twice bankrupt, unprofitable brick-and-mortar retailer with decades of operating losses into an industry leader founded upon a values-based, social commerce paradigm. FirePine Group, the investment firm he founded in 2009, has invested the capital of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors and their family offices to successfully fuel transformative and impactful change in multiple enterprises, including Ashley Stewart.

Prior to this, Mr. Rhee was a senior investment professional at two leading, Boston-based investment firms, one specializing in growth and the other focused on distress. Mr. Rhee has played a leadership role in multiple platforms, including the carve-out of the Meow Mix brand from Ralston Purina, the purchase and then turnaround of Murray’s Discount Auto Stores from a bank group, the growth catalyst investment in Mattress Firm and the turnaround of Ultra Diamonds.

Mr. Rhee is a visiting lecturer at Duke Law School and teaches his proprietary valuation and happiness class at leading educational institutions and professional organizations across the country. He is a regional winner of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the recipient of one of five 2016 Power Player Awards granted by the National Retail Federation, and the 2017 recipient of the Black Retail Action Group Business Achievement Award. He is a member of the board of the National Retail Federation.

Mr. Rhee received his AB with honors from Harvard College and his JD with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters. He is a former high school teacher.

EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

DAVE KOTCH

Dave Kotch, FMC

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Dave Kotch, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, began his career with FMC in 1984.  Since then, he has held various positions within the Information Technology (IT) organization.  Dave was instrumental in leading FMC’s SAP implementation in the late 1990’s and formed FMC’s SAP competency center, which provided support for the SAP systems following the implementation.  In 2002, Dave was promoted to Director of Information Technology and served in that role until he was appointed Chief Information Officer in 2007.

During his tenure as Chief Information Officer, Dave and his organization have helped FMC complete multiple acquisitions and divestitures which transformed FMC into a leading global agricultural chemical company.

Dave is a member of the Mercy Health Systems Board of Directors and its compliance subcommittee.  He is also a member the Chemical Information Technology Center’s CIO organization and the CIO Executive Summit, belongs to various business associations and resides on several boards within his local community.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems with a minor in Economics from King’s College, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Temple University.

EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

SATBIR BEDI

Portrait of Satbir Bedi

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Satbir Bedi is Chief Technology Officer of Scholastic Corporation, the global children’s publishing, education and media company. In this role, Bedi shapes Scholastic’s technology strategy, software development, and operations to support business priorities, including the development of digital products, sites, and services that meet the needs of the company’s global educator, parent and child customers. He serves on the Management Executive Committee.

Bedi joined Scholastic in 2012 bringing his experience in technology, publishing and academia to lead the technology transformation at Scholastic. Since joining the company, Bedi has upgraded and reengineered the technology organization to better align the group with business priorities, including eCommerce and digital subscriptions. He moved business applications out of data centers and into the cloud, shifting the company from a high fixed cost infrastructure model to a variable cost model based on usage, thereby allowing Scholastic to scale its infrastructure to flex with peak volume.

Bedi also created a new global technology operations group and transitioned the engineering organization to an agile delivery model, delivering new software features in frequent increments, which enabled the group to respond rapidly to changing market needs. He works with other business leaders on innovative business models, and evaluates and integrates technology centric acquisitions. He continues to improve systems and processes to provide product and customer analytics that will improve marketing and sales to drive revenue growth. Bedi also upgraded the caliber of talent within the division by creating a college associate program attracting millennial talent to engineering positions and recruiting experienced technology leaders.

Prior to joining Scholastic, Satbir Bedi served as Chief Learning Technologies Officer for Pearson International in London, having served Pearson in previous roles as Senior Vice President, Software and Technology Services, and Chief Technology Officer. At Pearson, he helped transform the company into a leader in the educational services industry including building digital services and digital delivery of products. From 1998 to 2004, Bedi was at McGraw-Hill where he held several editorial and technology roles. He was also Publishing Director at Macmillan following six years as Assistant Professor at a University teaching courses in computer and information sciences, management and business strategy.

Satbir Bedi holds a Bachelors in Commerce (Honors) from the University of Delhi and an MS in Computer and Information Sciences from Temple University.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

NED MOORE

Portrait of Ned Moore

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD

Ned Moore is a lifelong entrepreneur in information technology, healthcare, insurance, retail, real estate and the distribution industry. He has built high performing teams to support fast growing companies providing vision, strategy, operational skills and leadership. He also has extensive experience in raising capital to fuel companies experiencing rapid growth along with both buy side and sell side of mergers and acquisitions.

Currently Ned is the Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Clutch, which provides an advanced Integrated Customer Management Platform for B2C businesses. Prior to Clutch, he was the Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Portico Systems providing enterprise software solutions into the healthcare payer market experiencing tremendous growth and ultimately sold to McKesson Corporation. Over his career, he has raised over $50M in venture capital returning an average of 4x for investors and has grown companies from zero to over 250+ employees at exit. Under Ned’s leadership, Clutch was named Technology Startup of the Year in 2014 and Portico was named Emerging Technology Company of the Year in 2008 by the Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology (PACT).

Ned is active in supporting the entrepreneurial community as both an advisor and an early stage investor. He has been an angel investor in over 30 early stage technology companies and is an active real estate investor. He also serves as an Advisory Council Member to Villanova’s Center for Innovation Creativity and Entrepreneurship. Ned has extensive board experience and currently serves on the boards of Core Solutions, Elite MGA and the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale. He previously served on several other advisory boards and company boards including the Safeguard Scientifics Technology Advisory Board and Verilogue which was sold to Publicis Groupe.

Ned was recognized by PACT as the 2008 Technology CEO of the Year and as a finalist for the 2015 Technology CEO of the Year in the Greater Philadelphia area. He was a recipient of the 2007 Philadelphia Business Journal 40 under 40 award and named a finalist in the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Greater Philadelphia.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

MICHAEL BRADSHAW

Portrait of Michael Bradshaw

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

Bradshaw, in his role as Executive Vice President and CIO of NBCUniversal, leads the information technology organization and oversees NBCUniversal’s global IT operations, infrastructure, applications, and strategy.

Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Bradshaw served as Vice President and CIO for Lockheed Martin’s mission systems and training business. He managed IT services that supported business programs and functions, and led the IT integration for major acquisition, resulting in a global business unit of more than 35,000 employees. He also has served as Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s enterprise IT services, leading the team responsible for enterprise application and infrastructure services.

Bradshaw previously held various leadership positions at IBM, where he led its global IT infrastructure transformation initiatives.

He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Operations Management.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS