The professional core leadership of IEEE is led by Sophie Muirhead, IEEE Executive Director and COO. Sophie presides over the Management Council, which is comprised of herself and 13 senior executives who collectively manage all aspects of IEEE staff operations.

The executive team oversees more than 1,000 full-time, part-time, and temporary employees dedicated to supporting IEEE initiatives.

Sophia Muirhead, Executive Director and COO

Sophia Muirhead headshotSophia (“Sophie”) Muirhead became IEEE’s Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) in January 2023. She manages a US$500 million+ business enterprise with a worldwide staff of more than 1,000 employees.

Prior to becoming the Executive Director and COO, Sophie was IEEE’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for four years, where she served as a trusted business and legal advisor to the organization’s Presidents and CEOs, Boards of Directors, senior volunteer leaders, and global staff.

Before joining IEEE in 2019, Sophie spent two decades at The Conference Board (TCB), a global business membership organization founded in 1917, with a mission to help its members anticipate what’s ahead, improve their performance, and better serve society. There she served as TCB’s first-ever Chief Legal Officer, building a legal team and internal legal function from scratch. She also had various operations roles, including leading TCB’s Marketing and Communications Center.

Sophie is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the New York State Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hunter College Foundation and is a Trustee of the United Engineering Foundation.

Sophie graduated from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor and a contributor to the Harvard International Law Journal. Born and raised on the island of Jamaica, she received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Hunter College, graduating magna cum laude, and also studied at the University of London and Boston University.

Headshot of Anta Cisse-Green

Anta Cisse-Green is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at IEEE. Anta has in-depth legal and compliance knowledge from multi-tiered organizations similar to IEEE. Prior to IEEE, Anta was General Counsel at the State University of New York, based in Albany, USA. She served as the chief legal officer to the 18-member Board of Trustees, SUNY’s Chancellor, and various members of campus leadership across 64 campuses, managing a team of over 85 attorneys, legal support staff, and professional staff; and a staff of 15 people in risk and compliance. She also provided legal support to each of the Presidents of the 29-state-operated SUNY campuses and their respective college councils, which serve as the advisory body for each campus; the SUNY University Faculty Senate, a governance body created by the SUNY Board and the official agency through which the university faculty engage in the governance of SUNY; along with many other key areas.

Anta also has life-long experiences of supporting and giving to communities in addition to building and leading teams by establishing cultures of accountability, fun, integrity, and diversity of thought. This was taught to her very early in her life through her family who immigrated to the US from Senegal, West Africa. Her family taught her the Senegalese concept of “teranga,” which means hospitality steeped in the foundation of kindness, respect, charity, and generosity. Anta’s broad-based background in grant agreements, tax law, commercial agreements, various international private foundations, charitable organizations, and lifelong experiences enables her to bring a wealth of experience to this role as she collaborates with IEEE’s Board of Directors, volunteer leaders, Executor Director, Management Council, and staff.

Anta, a 2022 inductee in the Cedar Crest College Alumnae Hall of Fame, has also spent time on campus presenting to students, alumnae, and the community on leadership and networking skills. Anta is a mother to three children (two boys and a girl) and enjoys spending time with her husband in Montclair, NJ, USA, where they binge their favorite shows and travel around the world.

Ken Gilbert, Interim Managing Director, Technical Activities

Ken Gilbert headshotKen Gilbert joined IEEE in 1996 as the Director of Accounting before joining Technical Activities as the Director of Finance, until his most recent role as Senior Director of Technical Activities Operations. During his tenure with IEEE, Ken worked on a variety of projects related to financial models and the implementation of new IEEE business systems, as well as several standing and ad hoc committee projects. His steady hand, expertise, and deep knowledge of IEEE operations have been a guiding influence and factor in his success over the years.

Prior to IEEE, Ken was the controller for a division of Allied - Signal (now Honeywell International Inc.) for over 13 years. In addition to financial and internal control duties as a member of the division leadership team, he was involved in all aspects of the business, including R&D, manufacturing, new business startups in India and Japan, and the opening of two new manufacturing facilities.

Ken holds a B.S. in Business from Stockton College (now Stockton University) in New Jersey, USA, and completed several company management programs before joining IEEE. He is a member of CESSE and ASAE and holds the CAE designation.

Russell Harrison, Managing Director, IEEE-USA

Russell Harrison headshotRussell Harrison was named IEEE-USA's Managing Director in 2023, where he previously served as as Director of Government Relations. Russell is responsible for managing IEEE's Washington, DC, USA office, supporting IEEE-USA's Board of Directors, serving on the IEEE Management Council, and providing overall direction to IEEE-USA's government relations, member and professional activities, and communications programs. He is also the staff lead for IEEE's Global Public Policy Committee, which oversees IEEE's worldwide policy activities.

Russell has spent 27 years in the association government relations world. Prior to joining IEEE in 2003, he represented the Institute of Scrap Recycling, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the American Trucking Association on Capitol Hill. Outside of IEEE, Russell is a former member of both the Manassas, VA, USA’s Planning Commission and Electoral Board, where he served as Chair from 2013 to 2016.  He has also served on the Board of Directors of Historic Manassas and the Virginia State PTA.

Russell has a Master’s in Public Management, with a focus on International Trade Relations, from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Political Science from Allegheny College. He is a certified Planning Commissioner (Virginia Tech).

Karen L. Hawkins, Chief Marketing Officer

Karen Hawkins headshot Karen L. Hawkins is the Chief Marketing Officer of IEEE. She is the leader of the Marketing, Sales, and Design organization, a cross-functional and highly talented team of professionals spanning sales, marketing, communications, product management, digital innovation, and customer engagement for IEEE worldwide. Karen and the team bring their expertise and diverse global marketing, commercial, and general management experience in the marketing and sale of intellectual property, creating and executing strategies to help further IEEE’s mission through developing talented professionals in a team environment, driving global expansion, facilitating new product development, and raising the visibility of the engineering profession.
 
Her career began in book publishing, serving in editorial and sales roles with Little, Brown and Company, Delmar Publishers, and John Wiley and Sons, Inc. During her 20-year tenure at IEEE she has held leadership positions in the Marketing, Sales, and Publications groups. Most recently Karen led the product design department responsible for the development, management, and marketing of new and existing information products. This team works to diversify and grow IEEE’s portfolio of products and services consistent with the IEEE mission.

Karen earned a B.S. in Communications from Boston University. She served on the Association of Learned and Scholarly and Publishers, North America Steering Committee, and co-chaired their Continuing Education Committee. She was also a member of the Purdue University Press Management Advisory Board.
 

Steven Heffner, Managing Director, Publications

Steven Heffner headshotSteven Heffner is the Managing Director, Publications, for IEEE, where he is responsible for the strategic vision and general operations of the institute’s portfolio of learned journals, books (through IEEE Press), and magazines, including Spectrum and The Institute.  Steven and the publications leadership team work with IEEE’s dedicated volunteers to develop and execute on strategic priorities for the publishing program that advance the IEEE’s objectives, meet the practical needs of researchers and engineers in academia and industry, and meet the highest standards of scholarly integrity.

Before joining IEEE in 2020, Steven was Vice President of Product Strategy at Wolters Kluwer Health, with direct responsibility for the Lippincott line of journals in medicine and nursing, the medical education and practice book collection, the institutional research platform Ovid, and other digital solutions for education, medical practice, and industry. Prior to Wolters Kluwer, Steven held various editorial and management positions in the trade, business, and policy sectors.

Steven has served on the Executive Council of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the American Association of Publishers, the board of the scholarly dark archive CLOCKSS, and co-chair of the PROSE Awards for excellence in scholarly and professional publishing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Haverford College.

Donna Hourican, Staff Executive, Corporate Activities

Headshot of Donna HouricanAs Staff Executive of Corporate Activities, Donna Hourican directs strategic initiatives at the organizational level, a role that encompasses the leadership of IEEE’s corporate development and recognition, governance, enterprise strategy, philanthropic, and history functions. Donna also manages efforts to enhance and expand the global reach and impact of IEEE through the development of collaborative partnerships with other forward-focused organizations within the corporate, academic, governmental, and NGO communities.

Donna has been a vital part of IEEE’s growth and development since joining IEEE in 1995, particularly in her roles as Senior Director of the Business and Data-Related Services unit of IEEE, as Controller, and as Program Director for IEEE Collabratec® and the IEEE Business Platform.

As leader of the IEEE Business and Data-Related Services unit, Donna has been responsible for stewardship of enterprise product, promotional and customer data; campaign management; enterprise release management for enhancements to IEEE’s business systems; and business intelligence efforts. In addition to these key enterprise roles, Donna served as Acting CIO from 2014 through 2015, overseeing the design, development, deployment, budgeting, and management of IEEE information technologies.

Donna earned her B.S. in Accounting from St. John’s University, NY, USA, where she was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, and was a former auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, LLP, specializing in financial services.

Marie Hunter, Managing Director, Conferences, Events and Experiences

Headshot of Marie HunterNurturing a culture of collaboration and innovation, Marie Hunter and her team work closely with the dedicated staff and volunteers of IEEE Societies, Regions, and other OUs to deliver on the IEEE mission.

Her expertise in emergency preparedness and business continuity helped IEEE successfully meet the unique operational, human, and financial challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is responsible for overseeing over 2,000 IEEE-sponsored conferences per year as well as an array of events, meetings, and other live and virtual experiences. Her team of highly talented professionals brings subject-matter expertise in a variety of disciplines to advise and support dedicated volunteers and to execute on the strategic priorities of the IEEE Conferences Committee and the IEEE Board of Directors through events and experiences.

Before joining IEEE in 2011, Marie had a successful career as a managing director of Lehman Brothers, where she had global responsibility for a team of over 600, including events, sponsorships, and a wide variety of corporate professional services. Marie has a B.A. in English Literature from Iona College (now Iona University). Marie is a frequent contributor to industry publications and a requested speaker on business innovation at industry events.

Cecelia Jankowski, Managing Director, Member and Geographic Activities

Cecelia JankowskiCecelia Jankowski is the staff lead responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the member and geographic activities business unit. 

Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) responsibilities include the IEEE-wide strategy for member and membership development and member engagement in IEEE throughout the member’s lifecycle; member operations and the IEEE Contact Center; and geographic operations and volunteer engagement and leadership development. This includes responsibility for the IEEE offices in Singapore and Boston and those in the geographic units. 

Cecelia holds the B.A. degree with honors in Electrical Engineering from the SUNY at Stony Brook, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University, in New York and a Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University. 

Prior to IEEE, Cecelia was at Northrop Grumman Corporation, Bethpage, New York, USA, where she progressed through a number of technical and management positions. Technical areas at Grumman included: application and integration of computer-aided engineering/computer-aided design (CAE/CAD) into the aerospace and avionics systems design and analysis process; development of digital signal processing architectures and hardware for next-generation radar systems applications; and computer system security. Cecelia  holds three patents for signal processing hardware and has written and presented technical papers at conferences of the IEEE, AIAA, SPIE, and SWE. She received awards from Grumman, IEEE, AIAA and Eta Kappa Nu, for her technical and professional accomplishments

Cecelia is a professional engineer and has been active in a number of professional associations and currently is a Senior Member of IEEE, Associate Fellow of AIAA, and a member of both Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies.

Kelly Lorne, Chief of Staff to the Executive Director

Kelly Lorne headshotKelly Lorne is responsible for streamlining procedures and enhancing collaboration and communication throughout IEEE. She focuses on strategic policy development and implementation and supports IEEE’s institute-wide initiatives that furthers the IEEE mission and goals. Kelly specializes in disciplined leadership, staff advocacy, finance, infrastructure and operations, bringing almost 30 years of IEEE experience to the table supporting many key IEEE projects.

Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, her most recent role was Senior Director, Finance and Business Operations of the IEEE Standards Association, where she directed all aspects of IEEE SA business operations, ranging from budgeting and financial management to regulatory compliance, risk management and volunteer relationship management. She has also held several leadership positions at IEEE where she was responsible for finance and business operations of Human Resources and Information Technology.

Kelly earned her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Ithaca College, and an MBA in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is also a member of the Project Management Institute and has been active in the Girls and Boys Scouts for many years.

 

Jamie Moesch, Managing Director, Educational Activities

Jamie Moesch headshotJamie Moesch joined IEEE in December 2007 and was appointed Managing Director of Educational Activities in January 2016. Jamie leads the staff team of Educational Activities to achieve the shared vision of success built with partners on the IEEE Educational Activities Board and other education stakeholders throughout IEEE. His direct responsibilities involve developing the education strategy and management of the programs, products, and services led by the department including: continuing and professional education, pre-university education, university education, standards education, awards, and IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN).

Prior to joining Educational Activities, Jamie was the Senior Director of the Member Experience. In this role, he was responsible for the overall IEEE member experience across the globe. This included orchestrating the enterprise-wide member strategy, membership sales and marketing, constant improvement of the member product portfolio, management of member life-cycle engagement programs, and the service experience provided to members.

Prior to IEEE, Jamie was the Director of Business Operations at Easylink Services International Corporation (now part of OpenText Corporation), and Director of Sales for Quantex Microsystems. He holds an MBA in Finance and a B.A. in Psychology, both from Rutgers University.

Alpesh Shah, IEEE Standards Association Managing Director

Alpesh Shah headshotAlpesh Shah manages IEEE efforts in global standards development in strategic emerging technology fields making, advancing, and scaling outcomes in support of the mission of IEEE. 

Alpesh’s global portfolio to date has included advancing critical pathways around international technology governance, addressing digital literacy gaps, trustworthy children’s online and offline experiences, and addressing sustainability and climate change, among other critical intersections to better support future-affirming technological experiences. He also contributed to effective engagements with IEEE Global Offices and worked in unison on strategic imperatives and practices, allowing for stronger partnerships across IEEE. Before joining IEEE, he was a global trusted advisor to and for many organizations in various industries. These experiences included broad and proven experiences ranging from running and advising startups to scale to mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures to global market expansions for multinational entities. 

Alpesh holds an MBA from The University of Chicago with concentrations in Strategy, Marketing, and Finance, an M.Sc. in IT Project Management from DePaul University, and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Loyola University Chicago. In his spare time, he volunteers with Special Spectators, a nonprofit committed to providing seriously ill children and their families a special day through sporting events across the USA.

 

Thomas Siegert, Chief Financial Officer

Tom Siegert headshot

Tom Siegert joined IEEE as CFO in 2010. In his current role, Tom is responsible for leading the finance and business administration effort within IEEE. Tom is a member of the IEEE Management Council and supports the company’s Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees.

Prior to joining IEEE, Tom had roles of increasing responsibility in the pharmaceutical, advertising, and financial services industries.

Tom earned a B.A. degree (with honors) in Economics from Boston College and an MBA in Finance from Pace University.

Tom is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (NJ) and has taught Accounting and Finance courses at Villanova University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Jeff Strohschein, Chief Information Digital Officer

Jeff Strohschein headshotJeff Strohschein provides strategic and operational leadership to help ensure the IEEE global IT portfolio serves the diverse needs of staff, institutions, volunteers, and members. This includes cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, digital enablement, e-commerce, telecommunications and networking, applications development, business continuity, IT readiness, and cost optimization.

Jeff is an experienced global leader in technology and product innovation to drive revenue, customer growth, and customer retention. He is skilled in setting strategic direction, driving business growth, and leveraging emerging technologies to differentiate and advance business strategy. He has also spearheaded the modernization and security of a company’s technology infrastructure, significantly improving reliability, scalability, and operational cost efficiency. His breadth of experience has equipped him with the agility to navigate complex organizational structures. He has held successful positions at renowned global companies such as CNA Insurance, General Motors, TransUnion, Pfizer, and Sara Lee.

Jeff has a master’s degree in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Central Michigan University.

Cheri N. Wideman, Chief Human Resources Officer

Cheri Collins Wideman headshotCheri N. Collins Wideman leads and directs all key human resources (HR) functions of IEEE and is primarily responsible for the design, planning, and implementation of policies, strategies, and operations that will assure IEEE and the HR department have the workforce, processes, programs, and technologies needed to meet its short-term and long-term objectives. 

Cheri is a senior human resources executive with global experience in strategic counseling, human-resources management, leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational design. She has created impactful human-capital strategies to accelerate business growth through integrated talent management and organizational alignment for efficiencies and effectiveness. Prior to joining IEEE, she was the Vice President, Human Resources Americas Region at Smiths Detection, Inc., where she collaborated with senior leadership on all aspects of the region’s human-resources strategy: workforce planning, organization design, and talent development.

Cheri holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations degree from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Food Systems Economics and Management from Michigan State University. She is a member of the Philadelphia Society of People and Strategy.