Patty Morrison Wins Fisher-Hopper Prize for CIO Leadership

Patty Morrison, the chief information officer of Cardinal Health, has received the Haas School’s third annual Fisher-Hopper Prize for Lifetime Achievement in CIO Leadership.

Morrison accepted the award at a ceremony held after a banquet Sept. 18 at the Claremont Hotel. Haas Dean Rich Lyons welcomed the group.

“I’m incredibly honored and humbled,” Morrison said. “The previous winners are people I know and admire, so it’s wonderful to be recognized among my peers in this way.”

“Patty’s energy and intellect have had major, positive, enduring impacts both for the companies that have employed her and, even more importantly, for their entire  industries,” said James M. Spitze, executive director of the Fisher CIO Leadership Program at UC-Berkeley, which co-hosted the program with Gartner.

The award followed the annual half-day Landmark CIO Community Event at UC Berkeley, attended by almost 100 public and private sector IT executives, VCs, CEOs, and members of the Renaissance CIOs, a group of the world's most visionary chief information officers who are annually invited to this gathering

Past Renaissance CIOs who have participated in the event include Dawn Lepore (formerly) of Charles Schwab, Pete Solvik (formerly) of Cisco Systems, Bill Kelvie (formerly) of Fannie Mae, Charlie Feld (formerly) of Frito-Lay, Jack Hancock (formerly) of Chemical Bank, Wells Fargo and Pacific Bell, and DuWayne Peterson (formerly) of Merrill Lynch.

Morrison’s 30-year career includes IT leadership roles at Motorola, Office Depot and Pepsi Co., spanning industries including high technology, consumer products, retail and healthcare. “In each industry I’ve been able to successfully set a strategic direction, while not shying away from needed change,” Morrison said.

At Cardinal Health in Dublin, Ohio, she’s built a dedicated software design center called Fuse, and has worked to expand Cardinal’s self-service and other consumer applications. For more than 19 years, Morrison has also mentored other rising IT managers, 20 of them who are now CIOs.

Chris Hjelm, CIO of the Kroger Co. and the 2013 Fisher-Hopper prize winner, introduced Morrison at the award event, calling her “passionate about innovation and how technology can be used to transform healthcare into a safer and more cost-effective industry.”

He noted her commitment to making a difference – by developing talent, working with fellow CIOs in central Ohio on Columbus Collaboratory, an advanced technology company driving solutions in big data, analytics, and cyber security, and participating in curriculum and faculty development for analytics at Miami University.

The Fisher-Hopper prize was founded in memory of Haas alumnus Don Fisher, BS 51, co-founder of Gap Inc. and supporter of the CIO Leadership Program at Haas, and Max Hopper, the visionary CIO behind American Airlines’ SABRE Systems.

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