Welcome to a late winter edition of CPO News! Over the past couple of months there have been some higher-profile appointments and promotions that occurred in the procurement world, and we wanted to highlight them this morning. So grab yourself a hot cup of coffee and get caught up.

Got any procurement news to share? Drop us a line at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!

Gregg Brandyberry, CPO Rising Hall of Famer, Joins Bioz Strategic Advisory Board

Late last month, we learned that the former VP of Procurement of GSK and “friend of the firm,” Gregg Brandyberry, was named to Bioz’ Strategic Advisory Board. Bioz is a California-based developer of artificial (or augmented?) intelligence capabilities to aid scientific community research. Its AI-based search engine helps users cut through the noise in the scientific research field and find what they’re looking for. Gregg has been brought on board to leverage his expertise gained from serving in the sourcing and procurement world, particularly in bio-pharmaceuticals, for more than 40 years. He is also a senior adviser at Supplier.ai, another intelligent automation solutions provider, and is the president of RDPE Consulting.

Gregg is certainly no stranger to this site, as he has been featured many times, not least of which in 2016 after speaking at Ardent Partners’ inaugural CPO Rising Summit and being inducted into the CPO Rising Hall of Fame. Since then, Gregg has returned to Boston each year to emcee various parts of the event and he is always a big hit with the crowd, charming the audience of over a hundred with his rich industry insight and comedic take on current events. Congratulations, Gregg!

FGV Holdings Names Christina Ooi Su Siang Chief Procurement Officer

In other news, we recently learned that FGV Holdings Berhard, a Malaysia-based agricultural company and manufacturer of crude palm oil, named Dr. Christina Ooi Su Siang its newest Chief Procurement Officer, effective January 15. Dr. Siang has more than two decades of experience working in procurement and driving procurement transformation in various industries, including agriculture, but also aviation, IT, and telecom. Similarly, Dr. Siang will look to drive procurement transformation at FGV. She earned two Bachelors degrees in Communications and Law, a Master of Law and a Master of Business, and a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Malaya. Congrats, Dr. Siang!

POTUS Nominates Dr. Michael Wooten to Lead Office of Federal Procurement Policy

Late last month, it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Michael Wooten, Ph.D., to serve as the Administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the nation’s highest federal acquisition/procurement position. The OFPP is a part of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Dr. Wooten is currently a senior acquisitions adviser at the Federal Student Loan office. His appointment, if confirmed, would fill a seat vacated by Anne Rung (click here to read about our coverage from October 2016) and held on a temporary basis by Acting Administrator, Lesley Field.

Dr. Wooten has a long and diverse career in public service, having served as a United States Marine Corps Officer for more than 16 years in various capacities, including defense acquisition and contracting. After separating from the military, Dr. Wooten led acquisition and contracting programs and taught acquisition and contracting at the Defense Acquisition University. He has also served in local government as the Director of Contracts and Procurement and, more recently, as the Deputy Chief Procurement Officer for the District of Columbia before being tapped to be a senior acquisitions adviser at the Federal Student Loan office.

If you didn’t now any better, you might think that Dr. Wooten is a “professional student,” given that he has earned a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Chapman University, a Master of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Management from Norwich University, a Master of Science in Management, Acquisition, and Contract Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development from the George Washington University, and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Dr. Wooten!

Colgate Names Lisa M. Edwards to Board of Directors

Also late last month, Colgate-Palmolive announced that it has named Lisa M. Edwards to its Board of Directors. Ms. Edwards currently is the Executive Vice President, Strategic Business Operations, Customer and Partner Engagement of Salesforce.com, Inc. Her appointment was effective March 1. Ms. Edwards previously served as EVP of Global Corporate Services and the CPO at Salesforce before taking on higher profile roles there. In her role as a Board Member at Colgate-Palmolive, Ms. Edwards will apply her more than two decades of senior management and executive leadership experience in eCommerce, finance, and procurement to the Board. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. Well done, Lisa!

Arkansas State University Names Carol Barnhill Chief Procurement Officer

And finally, Ardent Partners learned late last week that Carol Barnhill, Director, Contract Administration & Strategic Sourcing at Arkansas State University, has been named has the University’s first Chief Procurement Officer. The appointment follows a realignment and restructuring of the University’s sourcing, procurement, and contracting operations. Ms. Barnhill will oversee all three operations and report to Dr. Russ Hannah, senior associate vice chancellor for finance and associate chief financial officer. Ms. Barnhill earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Management from ASU and has worked for the past 41 years at the University. Congrats, Ms. Barnhill — and well done!

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PLEASE SPEND 15 MINUTES TAKING OUR 14th ANNUAL STATE OF PROCUREMENT ANNUAL SURVEY THIS WEEK. 

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