The Executives' Club of Chicago and AITP Name Nalco Company's Stewart McCutcheon CIO of the Year

CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Executives' Club of Chicago, in collaboration with the Association of Information Technology Professionals and SIM, named Nalco Company's Chief Information Officer Stewart McCutcheon 2011 CIO of the Year. McCutcheon received the award yesterday at The Executives' Club of Chicago's Technology Conference at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel.

McCutcheon was selected from a field of 27 top IT executives at some of Chicago's largest and best known companies. A panel of 11 judges, including several past winners, reviewed nominations that were scored in 16 weighted categories, to determine the winner.

"The CIO of the year award spotlights the importance of the senior information leadership to overall performance. This is one of the ways The Executives' Club seeks to facilitate knowledge transfer between CIOs and other senior executives," said Melissa Bean, President & CEO of The Executives' Club.

McCutcheon scored highest or tied for highest in six categories including Leadership in Driving Business Value, Leadership in the Global Economy, Leadership in Innovation, Customer Contribution, Current Role in the Business, and Career Background.

McCutcheon has served as Nalco CIO since 2009, applying innovative solutions to expand competitive advantage and increase productivity across the company. In 2010, he was also named Chief Productivity Officer and given responsibility to achieve annual companywide productivity gains of $100 million in areas such as Supply Chain, Procurement and Administrative Functions.  

"The successes we have achieved using information technology to support the key business drivers of Nalco and our customers are the result of a great team effort," said McCutcheon.  "The Nalco IT organization has embraced the challenge of becoming the next generation IT team that truly partners with our business units to apply technology to create competitive advantage."

After the award presentation, John Tolva, the City of Chicago's Chief Technology Officer; Jason DeHaan, Chief Information Officer; and Brett Goldstein, Chief Data Officer, spoke about technology's role in the city.

Speaking before a crowd of over 150 business and technology leaders, the group talked about new initiatives, private sector collaboration, and how data is being used to allocate resources more effectively.

Established in 2003, The Executives' Club's CIO of the Year award recognizes the increasingly important role of chief information officers in value realization and in a company's growth, as well as the importance technology plays in Chicago's and in economic development. The award is given in collaboration with the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP).

Accenture and Microsoft sponsor The Executives' Club's quarterly Technology Conferences.

About The Executives' Club of Chicago

The Executives' Club of Chicago is a business forum for thought leadership, professional development, and best business practices. Founded in 1911, The Club is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious business organizations. The Club serves Chicago's business community by providing information and resources needed to establish effective global partnerships, enhance intellectual exchange, develop business leaders, and promote Chicago as a world class global business center.  In 2011 the Club celebrates its Centennial, with four Summits addressing Women's Leadership, Technology, New Leaders, and U.S.-India trade and investment relations.  

SOURCE The Executives' Club of Chicago