Anthem Executive Seeking Chief Information Officer for Texas Woman’s University
March 21, 2024 – Executive recruitment firm Anthem Executive was recently retained by Texas Woman’s University (TWU) in Denton, TX, to lead in its search for a chief information officer. Michael Ballew, Scott Watson, Mike “JR” Wheless, and Florene Stawowy are leading the assignment. The CIO is responsible for advancing the university’s curriculum, providing leadership for the faculty, overseeing research, and developing strategic, innovative programs that complement Texas Woman’s mission and strengths. They will report to the position of chancellor and president, held by Carine M. Feyten and will serve on her cabinet. This position will collaborate with leaders at the highest level of the organization and manage a team of professionals who are accountable for the delivery of technology at the university.
Candidates should have a minimum of 15 years of experience in a technology-related position as well as a minimum of five years of leadership responsibility managing multiple, large, cross-functional teams or projects, and influencing senior-level management and key stakeholders. They must have extensive knowledge of technology planning and operations, design, and deployment, as well as system life cycle management.
In addition, candidates must possess broad knowledge of current and emerging technologies, technology directions and strategic application to business needs. They must have the ability to improve operational efficiency, service delivery and information management across all lines of business and technology platforms.
The nation’s largest woman-focused university system, TWU produces leaders in the fields of education, the arts, sciences, business, nursing and the health professions. Founded in 1901 as a women’s college, the university has grown its mission of serving marginalized populations in higher education over the past 120-plus years. For four consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report recognized TWU — a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution — as having one of the top five most ethnically diverse student bodies in the nation, and in 2023 ranked the university among the nation’s best for social mobility.
Texas Woman’s University also recently called in Anthem Executive to lead in its search for an executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. Key responsibilities for this position include serving as CEO in the absence of the chancellor and president. This executive will providing visionary leadership for academic programs, academic policy, curriculum, budget allocation, strategic planning, academic planning, and research and outreach programs. They will provide advisory recommendations to the chancellor and president on all academic appointments, tenure, and promotion matters, and ensuring that such processes comply with the terms of faculty agreements.
Candidates must have an earned doctorate and academic credentials that merit full professor and tenure in one of the university’s academic units as well as demonstrated academic affairs supervisory experience at the level of dean of a college or school or above. Anthem Executive notes that candidates should have demonstrated experience in improving academic excellence and student success outcomes (enrollment, persistence, graduation rates, sense of belonging) and an understanding of associated best practices.
Proven Search Consultants
Anthem Executive, headquartered in Houston, TX, serves clients across a range of business sectors, including higher education, health sciences, corporate and non-profit institutions, global software and technology, private equity, insurance, service and manufacturing, oil and gas, and others. Its consultants bring a combined 80 years’ experience in the search industry. The firm’s higher education practice spans the entire leadership spectrum. In other sectors, Anthem Executive covers all roles from CEO and other C-suite leaders, board directors, vice president, and director, among others.
Related: Anthem Executive Assists Midwestern State University with President Search
Mr. Ballew, a registered Native American and member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe, serves as the firm’s chief diversity, inclusion, equity, and compliance officer, as well as search committee facilitator. He joined the executive search industry 14 years ago following a 20-plus year career in senior-level management with expertise in recruiting, counseling, training, operations, strategic planning, facilitation, project management, and workplace diversity.
Mr. Watson has been in the executive search industry for over 30 years. In addition to higher education institutions, he has served hospital/health systems, global software and technology companies, private equity enterprises, MCOs, insurance companies, service and manufacturing organizations with global footprints, and others.
Mr. Wheless, a veteran of more than two decades in the search industry, has served a broad portfolio of clients across many industry lines on behalf of organizations ranging from small operations to Fortune $100 billion plus enterprises – including working with and recruiting some of the nation’s most influential leadership. Mr. Wheless has served institutions and organizations across a broad range of geographies and sectors in higher education, technology, healthcare, energy, financial services, law, insurance, hospitality and food services, retail, CPG, EPC, manufacturing, aerospace, mining, construction, and real estate.
Ms. Stawowy, who has been in executive search for over 20 years, is a core member of the higher education and academic health practice. Over the last two decades, she has developed deep expertise in senior‐level search, having been charged with numerous executive leadership transitions with a particular emphasis on higher education and academic health search.
Related: Anthem Executive Recruits President for Lamar University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
