Gale Given began the job on Monday June, 4, according to an announcement from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Given is a native of Point Pleasant, W. Va., and was retired from Verizon Corp., where she was regional president of Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia.
"I am so happy to be back home in the hills of West Virginia," Given said in a statement. "It is an honor to be given the opportunity to serve the citizens of the state through the work of the Office of Technology and the agencies it supports."
The native of Point Pleasant, W.Va., received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Marshall University.
Given replaces Kyle Schafer, who stepped down in March to take an IT consulting position in the private sector. Schafer had been the state’s CTO since 2005.
The CTO is the top IT job in West Virginia’s state government, and is in charge of the Office of Technology, sets IT policy and is in charge of enterprise initiatives related to computer systems. The office operated with 200 full-time and temporary staff and a $74 million budget last year.
