St. Francis To Honor Prudential Executive Barbara Koster at Charter Award Dinner

April 3, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — St. Francis College will honor one of its most successful alumni, Barbara Koster ‘72 (senior vice president and chief information officer of Prudential Financial) at the 51st Annual Charter Award Dinner at the New York Marriott Marquis on Wednesday, April 25, beginning at 6 p.m.

Koster is also the head of Global Business and Technology Solutions and a member of Prudential’s Senior Management Committee. She has oversight responsibility for information technology at all Prudential locations worldwide.

Koster heads two other Prudential subsidiaries as chairman of the board for both Pramerica Systems Ireland Ltd. and Prudential Systems Japan Ltd.

“Barbara’s accomplishments with Prudential and before that at Chase Manhattan Bank don’t tell half the story of what a great person she is,” said St. Francis College President Brendan J. Dugan ‘68. “She is a strong believer in giving back to the community, most visibly as a member of the Board of Trustees here at St. Francis as well as at the Liberty Science Center.”

Koster has been recognized many times by several organizations, most recently last year, when NJ Biz named her one of the “Fifty Best Women in Business.” Also in 2011, Irish America magazine named her their Annual Wall Street 50 list. She was named Chief Information Officer of the Year in 2008 by the Executive Council.

She graduated from St. Francis with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and is a member and past chair of ACORD (a standards body for the life insurance industry). Koster is also a member of Executive Women in New Jersey and the Research Board, an international think tank.

Koster joined Prudential in November 1995 as vice president and chief information officer in Individual Life Insurance Systems. At Chase she held several positions, including president of Chase Access Services.

The Charter Award Dinner began in 1962 by the St. Francis Board of Trustees to commemorate New York state granting the college a charter and the right to confer diplomas, honors and degrees. For 51 years, the Charter Award Dinner has been the college’s premier fundraising event and has raised millions of dollars to support scholarships programs and further the educational mission at St. Francis.