Irene Dec
Vice President, Information Systems
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
Irene Dec, vice president, Information Systems, joined Prudential in
1981 in Information Systems. Currently, Dec is Prudential's Year 2000
Program Manager, leading Prudential's Year 2000 Company-wide Program
Office, which includes all Prudential systems, infrastructure, and
external relationships with clients and business partners.
In 1998 Dec was named one of "25 IT People to Watch" by ComputerWorld
and selected as one of 26 "Intriguing Woman of New Jersey Business" by
Business News. Dec was also one of the first three honorees inducted
into the Year 2000 Hall of Fame (sponsored by SPG Conferences &
Expositions and the Society for Information Management). She was
also profiled in the 1999 Women in Science and Technology Month, sponsored by
Women in Technology International. Dec has presented at over sixty
Year 2000 conferences and seminars and consulted with other major U.S.
companies and government agencies. She has been quoted in publications
and technical magazines including Beyond Computing, CIO, ComputerWorld,
InformationWeek, PC Week, and Year/2000 Journal. She has appeared on
ABC's World News Tonight and on CNN News discussing Year 2000 issues.
Dec received her BS and MS in mathematics from Montclair State
University, New Jersey. Before joining Prudential, her previous work
experiences included teaching mathematics, both at a high school and at
a college level. Dec is a member of the World Future Society, Project
Management Institute, ACM Association for Computing Machinery, NAFE
National Association for Female Executives, and IEEE Association for
Computing.
Irene Dec answers these questions:
1. What was your first job in technology?
2. Who has been your most significant mentor? Why?
3. What has been your greatest challenge and what strategies
did you use to overcome obstacles?
4. Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Why?
5. What lessons have you learned that would be valuable to
women beginning their careers in technology?
6. What new technology do you believe will have the most positive
impact on the world in the next 20 years? The most negative impact?
On the lighter side:
1. If you could have dinner with any 2 people (living or not),
who would they be?
2. What was the last book you read? What books do you love to recommend?
3. If you were to choose a different profession, what would it be?
4. What is your definition of success?
