!" STEM Degree & an MBA #" PhD in a STEM Field $" Career in IT
propulsion, and thermal sector. He was named president and of Capability Maturity Model strategies. Prior to Dell, she was
chief operating offi cer in 2005. O’Neal serves on the board a partner with CAPGEMINI, formerly Ernst and Young LLP,
of directors for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and where she led the global supply chain strategy practice, focusing
the board of directors of Sprint/Nextel. He is a member of the on life sciences accounts.
Executive Leadership Council. It is an independent, non-profi t
corporation dedicated to providing black executives of Fortune
500 companies with a network and leadership forum that adds MERCK & CO. INC.
perspective and direction to their achievement of excellence in
business, economic and public policies for the black commu-
ARTHUR P. BURSON JR. !
nity, their corporations and the broader community.
Vice President, Global Engineering Services
M erck Manufacturing Division
BS - m echanical engineering, North Carolina
PHARMACEUTICALS
Agriculture & Technical State University
MB A , Rutgers University
Arthur Burson’s fi rst job at Merck was as
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY
an entry-level engineer in its environmental
DERICA W. RICE !
and utilities projects group, Twenty-fi ve
years later he runs the division that hired him. Burson believes
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial O f ficer
success, and job effectiveness, is quantifi able. He tells new
BSEE, Kettering University
engineers that they must work at least 10,000 hours to master
MB A , Indiana University
a discipline. As manager of a group of 230 project managers,
Derica Rice has been with Lilly since 1990,
design engineers, and process engineers responsible for the
where he sits on its executive and opera-
design, construction, start-up, and commissioning of manufac-
tions committees. Rice has held various
turing facilities and research laboratories worldwide measures,
assignments as an international treasury
he measures effectiveness using specifi cations and metrics, like
associate, sales representative, manager of
throughput, run rate, uptime, down time, turn around time and
global fi nancial planning and analysis for the medical devices
operability. He says his operating priorities are workforce safety,
division, and global planning manager for pharmaceuticals.
understanding customer needs, and even if it sounds clichéd, a
In 1995, he was fi nance director and chief fi nancial offi cer for
commitment “to develop and build tomorrow’s talent today.”
Lilly Canada. Two years later, Rice was promoted to executive
STEM skills run in this family. The Merck exec’s dad is an
director and CFO for European operations based in London.
A&T graduate with dual degrees in mathematics and chemistry,
In 2000, he became general manager of Lilly United Kingdom
and Burson’s daughter has a computer science degree. Burson’s
and Republic of Ireland. From July 2003 to May 2006, he was
favorite vacation, movie, book, gadget, and leisure activity, are
corporate vice president and controller. Rice sits on the boards
respectively, any place with his family, action fl icks, The Tipping
of directors of Target Corporation, Clarian Health North, and
Point, and “taking a long ride on my Harley, when the sun is
The Center for Leadership Development. CLD is a three-
about to rise. Just crack the throttle and let the V-Twin rumble.”
decade old organization conceived through an idea at Lilly
Endowment and created through the Indiana University
School of Business to foster the development of minority STAFFING AND RECRUITMENT
youth in central Indiana as professional, business and commu-
nity leaders by providing experiences that encourage personal
development and educational attainment. Rice is a trustee of
ALLEGIS GROUP
the Indiana University Board and a member of the Indianapolis KEVIN APPERSON $
Museum of Art’s Board of Governors.
Chief Information O f ficer
Information Services
BS-electrical engineering, University of Virginia
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Kevin Apperson has been with Allegis
LAVERNE COUNCIL $
for 13 years and is responsible for 250 in-
Corporate Vice President, CIO
formation system employees, a $62 million
BS - computer science, Western Illinois University
annual budget, and for all IT architecture,
MB A - operations managem ent, Illinois State University planning, strategy, development, budgets and operations. He
As corporate vice president and chief information offi cer,
says a would-be IT specialist should volunteer for the most
LaVerne H. Council oversees Johnson & Johnson’s global IT
challenging projects, display do-whatever-it-takes-approach to
group. In this capacity, she is responsible for managing informa-
their job, and keep studying. In his position, Apperson says, it
tion technology and related systems enterprise. Her organiza-
is not possible to measure effectiveness from the inside. Your
tion includes more than 250 companies, over 4,000 informa-
internal and external clients have the best perspective and you
tion management employees, and a budget of over $1.9 billion.
must ask them if the IT system, process, change or tool deliv-
She is also a member of the corporate global operating commit-
ered the expected result. His top three initiatives in 2009 are
tee. Previously, she served as global VP for information technol-
to migrate Allegis to VOIP, implement IBM’s Integrated Front
ogy for Dell, Inc. In that position, she implemented business
Offi ce program, and support the company’s global information
growth solutions, created a global development model, and
systems. His greatest infl uences were his mother and father who,
managed the global quality process through the implementation
he says, taught him to have faith, never give up, work hard, and
http://www.blackengineer.com
USBE & Information Technology I WINTER 2008 33
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