University of New Orleans alumna and utility executive Karen Mincey will serve as UNO’s fall 2011 commencement speaker. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 17 at 3:00 p.m. at the UNO Lakefront Arena.
Mincey, who graduated from UNO in 1982 with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, is vice president of information technology and chief information officer at TECO Energy in Tampa, Fla. A 27-year veteran of the electric utility industry, Mincey leads a team of technical professionals responsible for TECO Energy’s corporate computer systems. Under her leadership, TECO Energy has been recognized several times as one of the “100 Best Places To Work in IT” and among the “Top 500 Companies in Technology Innovation.”
Mincey received the first-ever Woman of Color in Technology Chairman's Award, recognizing the achievements of the nation's top minority engineers, scientists and technologists. In February 2010, she was listed as one of Black Enterprise’s "75 Most Powerful Women in Business" and in November 2010, the 129-year-old American Association of University Women selected her as a "Woman of Distinction" for exhibiting professional excellence in her field, providing leadership and working to promote education and social justice.
Mincey, who also holds an MBA from Loyola University New Orleans, serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay, and is a past chair of the board of the Hillsborough Community College Foundation. She is also active with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the church ministries at Bible-Based Fellowship Church in Tampa.