What’s POSSIBLE? Shattering expectations Karin Remington ’85, Presidents’ Award
Karin Remington ’85
Irma Mayorga ’88
Although she holds a Ph.D. in mathematics, Karin is not a typical mathematician. Her entire career has focused on using data and technology as tools to conduct research, collect information and make new discoveries.
Irma was the first in her family to attend college and she did so at the request of her mother, who insisted that college was where Irma “needed to be, even though [my mother] couldn’t describe to me what would happen there.”
A turning point occurred early in her career when she left the security of a government job and joined Celera Genomics — a start-up company formed to sequence the human genome within a timescale and budget thought outrageous by experts. At the end of the pilot, the Celera team had met its goal of determining the genome sequence of the fruit fly, an organism widely used for studies in basic biological and biomedical science. She has also worked at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and served as co-chair of the White House Big Data Initiative and the federal government’s Big Data Senior Steering Group.
Irma received a joint Ph.D. in drama and humanities from Stanford. She holds the distinction of attaining the first Ph.D. by a Latina in the drama department’s history.
Today, her success continues as the chief technology and science officer at Arjuna Solutions, based in Washington, D.C.
Lighting the way Irma Mayorga ’88, Presidents’ Award To describe Irma as an artist, scholar and activist is technically accurate, but belies the depth and significance of her contributions to her field. The Dartmouth professor and award-winning playwright nimbly balances the academic, nonprofit and community-based sectors of the arts, always with a driving mission of social change and empowerment of women.
Shari Lamecker Rogalski ’89
16 | College of Saint Benedict Magazine
Making information more valuable Shari Lamecker Rogalski ’89, Presidents’ Award In today’s technology age, the datamining skills and vast experiences of Shari Lamecker Rogalski are changing the way the world does business. Shari had a 20-year career at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. While there she founded and led a new global business for them: Accenture Information Management Services, which focused on providing strategic counsel in the areas of data analysis, reporting and analytics for companies around the world. She led Accenture’s global business intelligence efforts for Best Buy, working with on- and off-shore teams to collect and use data to improve business. Eventually she was named partner. Today, Shari works at United Health Group as vice president of enterprise information management. She also shares her business savvy and intelligence as a member of the College of Saint Benedict Board of Trustees. From the boardroom at Saint Ben’s to the boardroom at United Health, Shari is leaving her mark on the business world.