CIO Partners Assists University of Vermont with CIO Search
April 9, 2025 – CIO Partners recently assisted in the recruitment of Kellie Campbell as chief information officer of the University of Vermont (UVM). Executive director Barry Cressley led assignment. “This is an exciting time to bring an energetic and collaborative new leader to UVM, especially with new technologies rapidly emerging and important IT projects underway on campus,” said interim president Patricia Prelock. “Kellie will be an excellent partner for all of us and a strong leader for the enterprise technology services team.”
A broadly experienced academic IT professional, creative problem-solver and engaged listener, Ms. Campbell will assume leadership of the university’s enterprise technology services (ETS) division. She comes to UVM from the Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS), for which she served as chief information officer and vice president of information technology. Reporting to the chancellor and working in close partnership with the VSCS council of presidents, Ms. Campbell provided leadership, management, and strategy for the information technology shared services division.
Founded in 1791, the University of Vermont is a top-100 research university. The school has an enrollment of 12,000 students, including more than 10,000 undergraduates and over 1,900 graduate students. The university is home to seven undergraduate schools and colleges, an honors college, a graduate college, a medical school and a division of continuing and distance education. UVM attracts a faculty that has steadily built its research enterprise, growing sponsored research from $65 million in 1999 to over $138 million in 2016. This summer, UVM’s foundation announced that it had exceeded its $500 million comprehensive campaign goal one year ahead of schedule. The market value of the university’s pooled endowment is $531 million.
Marietta, GA-based CIO Partners is focused on technology leadership searches across all industries and corporate sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 100 organizations. Founded in 2001, the firm specializes in and emphasizes that it understands the uniqueness of the top technology roles.
As president and managing partner of CIO Partners, Joe Gross leads the firm and is responsible for the strategic implementation and execution of recruitment best practices for the firm’s client partners. Under his stewardship, CIO Partners has been recognized by Forbes as the top executive search firm with a 100 percent niche in technology leadership engagements and ranked by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as a Best Place to Work. Previously, Mr. Gross served as COO for the firm while managing, improving, and scaling all company operations.
With over 13 years of recruiting experience, Mr. Cressley is responsible for identifying IT leadership talent both locally and nationally. He built his reputation in the technology community by working with some of the top technologists in the Atlanta area, including .NET, Java, Scala at both the development and architect levels as well as a wide array of cloud based projects ranging from DevOps to cloud architects (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
CIO Recruiting
Over the past year, a number of organizations have turned to executive search firms to help them find top flight CIOs. Here are a few of the top assignments tracked by Hunt Scanlon Media:
Toronto-based executive search firm Massey Henry was recently retained by Prairie Payments Joint Venture (PPJV) to lead in its search for a new CIO. Reporting to the CEO, the CIO is responsible for overseeing technology architecture, infrastructure management, information systems, and information security – either delivered in-house or through third-party partners. In collaboration with the PPJV leadership team, this executive develops and maintains the technology strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with emerging technologies, industry standards, and corporate objectives. The search firm is looking for a seasoned technology executive with strong knowledge of the credit union ecosystem, payment systems, and broader Canadian financial services sector.
JM Search, a senior-level talent provider serving private equity investors, portfolio companies, and Fortune 1000s, recently helped to recruit Aurelian Sin as CIO of Subaru of America. Partners Bill Hogenauer and Ben Millrood led the assignment. “With more than 20 years of experience in IT leadership roles, Aurelian has developed successful IT strategies and roadmaps aligned with the business goals of each venture, making him the perfect fit for this position,” JM Search said. “Congratulations to Aurelian on his new role. We are excited for the continued success of Subaru and Aurelian.” Mr. Sin is a seasoned, IT and business executive noted for building high-performing teams and a talent for quickly understanding business needs to design and implement IT-based transformations. He has in-depth experience in ERP/SAP platforms, analytics, and cloud/SaaS technologies with hands-on operations and performance management experience. Mr. Sin has a track record of implementing global, enterprise-wide IT solutions across multiple industries/geographies and translating business needs into a comprehensive strategy.
Executive recruitment firm Anthem Executive has placed Henry G. Torres as the new chief information officer Texas Woman’s University (TWU) in Denton, TX. Dr. Torres joins TWU from the Arkansas State University System, where he has served as vice president of information technology & CIO. In his role at Arkansas State, he led teams of IT professionals across seven system campuses and was instrumental in overseeing several key initiatives related to emerging technology, cloud services/hosting, and improving IT service. In his private-sector career, Dr. Torres has been an information technology executive specializing in the areas of distribution, logistics, store operations, and e-commerce. In his new position with TWU, Dr. Torres 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.
Related: CIO Partners Recruits Portfolio President and CIO for AccelerEd
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
