IT lecture series starts Feb. 26
FAYETTE, Iowa (February 5, 2010)—The Upper Iowa University Information Technology (IT) Department will hold the first in a series of lectures featuring influential corporate executives on Friday, Feb. 26 at 3:00 p.m. in Baker Hebron Hall, Room 101 on the Fayette campus. The lecture is free and open to the public and will include a drawing for a $500 scholarship, two Wii® console games, and T-shirt give-aways.
Catherine Brune, senior vice president and chief information officer at Allstate Insurance Company in Northbrook, IL will present, “Transforming Ourselves to Transform Our Future.” She says this philosophy translates into a high-performance, results-oriented organization that has been essential to Allstate's success.
"In our industry today, if you didn't have a strong technology organization, I don't know how you could be strong as a company," Brune said. "You have to be thinking every day, what can we do differently today from yesterday that is going to get us closer to the goals at hand?”
Under Brune’s leadership, Allstate developed an enterprise-wide business-aligned technology strategy, created a virtual data center environment, developed best-in-class monitoring systems for its web operations, consolidated knowledge management processes, and brought an enterprise focus to information security and business resumption platforms while generating efficiency gains.
Brune lectures regularly to high school and college students who may not be considering the insurance industry in their career plans, saying she finds this kind of mentoring and outreach to not only be fulfilling personally but key to helping Allstate maintain its position as an industry leader.
“Not only can it give the company an advantage in recruiting IT talent from the cream of the crop, but it provides a foundation for success once these individuals become employees,” she said. “Thinking back along my career, so many people helped me be a better person and a better leader."
Brune earned a B.S. in management from the University of South Carolina and has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the United Way and the Urban League, and is currently a member of the Chicago Junior Achievement board. Brune is an inductee of the YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers, has been recognized as one of the Premier 100 Information Technology leaders by Computerworld Magazine, received the Excellence in Corporate IT Leadership award from Women in Technology International.
Contact Dr. Joseph Elarde, UIU assistant professor of information technology, at 563-425-5835 or elardej@uiu.edu with any questions about Brune’s lecture or future lectures in the series.
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