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Prudential CIO Barbara Koster named one of New Jerseya?s aBest 50 Women in Businessa

^{Published on 2011-04-18 07:10:17 - Market Wire}
 

NEWARK, N.J.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Prudential CIO Barbara Koster was recently named on the aBest 50 Women in Businessa by NJBIZ newspaper, it was announced today by Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU).

"We are extremely proud of Barbara and her accomplishments"

aWe are extremely proud of Barbara and her accomplishments,a said Prudential Vice Chair Mark Grier. aAt Prudential, we highly value effective leadership and professional excellence. Barbara epitomizes those standards. NJBIZ obviously sees what we see in Barbaraa™s character, professionalism and dedication to community service.a

aThe Best 50 Women in Businessa awards program honors New Jerseya™s most dynamic women in business. An independent panel of judges selected the winners based on a set of criteria that included holding significant authority for decision making in a for-profit company, dedication to business growth, professional and personal accomplishments, community involvement, and advocacy for women.

aWe are truly fortunate to have the opportunity to recognize this outstanding group of women,a said Thomas Curtin, publisher of NJBIZ. aAs business and community leaders, they are constantly redefining success within and outside the business arena. On behalf of NJBIZ, we would like to thank and congratulate these fifty outstanding women for their dedication to New Jerseya™s future.a

In addition to being CIO at Prudential, Koster is also senior vice president and head of Global Business & Technology Solutions and a member of Prudentiala™s Senior Management Committee. She has oversight responsibility for information technology at all Prudential locations worldwide and ensures the privacy and integrity of Prudentiala™s information. She also is chair of the boards of Pramerica Systems Ireland, Ltd. and Prudential Systems Japan, Ltd., technology subsidiaries of Prudential.

Koster has been with Prudential since 1995 and has held a variety of positions, including chief information officer in the Individual Life Insurance business unit where she was responsible for a wide range of technologies, including those that support distribution, policy administration, customer relationship, business strategy, call centers, service delivery, financial systems, information security, business continuation and architecture.

She was named CIO of the Year in 2008 by the Executive Council and listed among the top Executive Women of New Jersey. She also has been named among the Premier IT Leaders by Computerworld magazine; the Top Twenty Financial Management Technologists by the CIO Forum; and the Elite Eight by Insurance & Technology magazine. Koster received the 1999 Women in Science and Technology award from the Smithsonian Institute. She has been a featured speaker at dozens of national and international industry conferences.

Koster is a member and past chair of ACORD (a standards body for the life insurance industry) and currently serves on the boards of trustees of Liberty Science Center in New Jersey and St. Francis College. She also is a member of Executive Women in NJ and Research Board, an international think tank.

She has a BS degree in business administration and an AS degree in computer technology from St. Francis College.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $784 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2010, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudentiala™s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. In the U.S., Prudentiala™s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit [ http://www.news.prudential.com/ ].