Chris is currently Vice President, Data Strategy & Governance for the Global Commercial Payments division of American Express. She leads a large, diverse team of data scientists and big-data technologists in the creation of information driven solutions that solve real world problems for corporations across the globe. She is a mentor in the Executive Women’s Interest Network, an executive champion of the company’s virtual workforce network, BlueEN, and an active member in several data governance and data science associations.
"Every day the world becomes more aware of the power of data — whether for good or bad intents. It is the new currency. My interest and passion for deriving positive benefit from information and data was certainly fueled by my time at NMSU.
As a student in the Experimental Statistics program, I was able to marry my love of math with my hobby of solving puzzles. The classroom focus on the practical aspects of statistics coupled with hands on application through internships helped to set me up for career success. The problem-solving skills, real world experience and solid education in statistics and data mining proved to be a valuable blend.
Upon graduating from the program with a Master of Science, I had imagined a career in clinic studies and experiments. What I quickly found was an emerging niche for data analysis, tightly linked to the fast growing world of technology, across a wide variety of industry sectors. Over my last 14 years with American Express, I have leveraged my NMSU education every day — whether building predictive forecasts to help customers optimize spending or proposing new organizational strategies. The advice I give my team on success is to love what you do and take every opportunity to go beyond what anyone would have expected possible".