Join Innovate@UCLA for our third Career Exchange virtual session led by Janet Horan, Vice Dean for Finance, Administration, and CFO at USC Marshall School of Business and moderated by Ghalib Kassam, EVP, CIO, and CISO at Los Angeles Times, and Programs Committee at Innovate@UCLA.

When a search is launched today to recruit a CIO in higher education, what is the search committee looking for? Which key skills and experiences rise to the top as essential to keep pace with the disruptive technology for the current business model. 

Fifteen years ago, CIO roles required technical depth and expected to deliver complex IT projects. The need for soft skills has been increasing to add value as a strategic partner with leadership and the business. These skills bring the ability to effectively manage people and streamlining processes to align technology with business goals.

Let us talk about the changes over time for the key competencies sought in CIO roles today and institutions seeking to balance technical knowledge and risk mitigation with the need for human centered leadership in our IT teams.

Open to all: members and non-members are welcome!

About Janet Horan

Janet Horan serves as the USC Marshall School Vice Dean for Finance and Administration and CFO. Janet serves on the Dean’s Cabinet and provides leadership and oversight of the school budget, Human Resources, IT, Facilities, Financial Planning, Graduate Admissions and Marshall Career Services.

Janet previously was at Columbia University’s Business School for 23 years, where she served most recently as the Vice Dean for Finance and Administration. Along with responsibility for all administrative operations and financial oversight of Columbia Business School’s budget and project planning for the transformational $500 million capital project to build two new business school facilities which opened in 2022. 

Janet holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, Human Resources from Baruch College/City University of New York, Executive MPA in Non-profit Management and Finance from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a Master of Dispute Resolution from USC Gould School of Law.

About Ghalib Kassam

Ghalib Kassam is the Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Information Security Officer at the Los Angeles Times, where he leads technology strategies to support journalism and business transformation. With over 25 years of experience across diverse industries, he specializes in delivering IT solutions and managing global teams to achieve metric-driven outcomes. Kassam also serves on multiple boards, including Innovate@UCLA.