Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
417-328-1803 / scsmith@sbuniv.edu
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The SBU Computer and Information Sciences Advisory Board will feature two Fortune 200 Companies when it meets March 4 in the Gene Taylor Free Enterprise Center on the Southwest Baptist University Campus.
IBM, 20th on the Fortune 500 list, Motorola (110th), and Leggett & Platt will be joined by representatives from several other highly-respected and innovative companies on the board. Advisory Board members help keep the SBU CIS Department curriculum current and play an advisory capacity related to the direction and vision for the Department.
“Having multi-national corporations on our campus is not new,” said Dr. Tim DeClue, Chair of the Department. “We’ve had Intel, Walmart and many other great companies represented on the board. What is different is that as SBU and the CIS Department increasingly fill leadership roles at the national level, advisory boards like ours are absolutely critical in helping us find the path that God would have use follow.”
The complete 2011 Advisory Board consists of the following companies and representatives:
· IBM, a global technology company with close to 400,000 employees worldwide and revenues in excess of 13 billion dollars will be represented by Charles Campbell, a 2001 SBU CIS alumnus and a senior manager in the IBM Global Support Solutions & Strategic Initiatives Division located in Columbia, Missouri.
· Motorola, with employees in over 60 countries worldwide, will be represented by Michael Newton, a senior member of the Technical Staff at Motorola’s Dallas, TX headquarters. Michael Newton is a 1989 alumnus of the SBU CIS Department.
· Duck Creek Technologies is a Bolivar-based insurance software company and the largest employer of SBU CIS Department graduates. Duck Creek Technologies is an innovative company of several hundred employees with facilities in Missouri, Connecticut and the United Kingdom. Representing Duck Creek Technologies will be Michael Dwyer, Director of Research and Development.
· Cerner Corporation is the largest provider of electronic medical systems in the United States and is a Fortune 100 company. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Cerner employs over 8,000 employees worldwide and is the second largest employer of SBU CIS Department graduates. Representing Cerner will be Owen Straub, Vice-President for Software Engineering.
· Jack Henry & Associates, Inc., with headquarters near Springfield, Missouri, is an S&P 400 company and is the 18th largest provider of financial software services in the world. JHA products are used to manage mission-critical information for more than 11,200 financial institutions and corporate entities. Representing JHA will be Kirk Hay, Director of Computer Information Services.
· ANPAC (American National Policy and Casualty), located in Springfield, Missouri, is a subsidiary of the American National Insurance Company. American National was listed in Forbes Magazine in its "100 Most Trustworthy Companies" list for 2009. Representing ANPAC will be Neil Anderson, Director of IT Services.
· Leggett & Platt, a 128-year old firm based in Carthage, Mo., is one of North America’s leading independent manufacturers of home and office equipment. Leggett & Platt posted sales of 3.36 billion dollars in 2010, and currently employs 19,000 partners and operates 140 manufacturing facilities in 18 countries. The company will be represented by Kevin Chittenden, Vice President of Information Technology.
· Rural Sourcing Inc., is a software development company providing American companies an alternative to offshore outsourcing. RSI out-competes companies in India by locating development centers in rural America where the cost of living is 25% to 50% lower than in large cities on the East and West Coast. Representing RSI will be Ingrid Miller, Director of Operations and Client Services.
For more information, contact Dr. Tim DeClue, Chair
Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences
Southwest Baptist University
Bolivar, MO 65613
tdeclue@sbuniv.edu
http://www.sbuniv.edu/~tdeclue
417.328.1704
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Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. Since 1878, the faculty and staff have created a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. The University has been named one of America’s Best Christian Colleges® for 14 consecutive years, one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 15 consecutive years, and it has been named among institutions with America’s Best College Scholarships ® for the past four years by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc.
For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu. SBU’s Office of Marketing & Communications is available to news media 24/7 at 417-399-7918.
