Mr. Edwards will lead development of a framework which captures a holistic view of clients’ relationships with the company and incorporates those elements into business design, product and service development, and operational decision-making. He also will oversee the organization’s measurement and analysis of customer behavior, trends and factors that account for client loyalty and satisfaction. Mr. Edwards will work closely with his counterparts in each of TIAA-CREF’s client-facing areas to assure the enterprise is meeting the needs and enhancing the experience of its individual and institutional clients.
Ms. Lipson will oversee TIAA-CREF’s customer insight and business intelligence activities. She will work with each of TIAA-CREF’s businesses to develop corporate resources for database analytics and competitive intelligence, promote a common understanding of the external marketplace via research, improve the quality of strategic and tactical decision-making, and assure that the organization is well-prepared to identify market opportunities and develop products and services that meet client needs.
“We are very pleased to welcome individuals with the experience and talent of Dave Edwards and Sara Lipson to TIAA-CREF,” said chief executive Herb Allison. “Dave will reinforce our client-focused perspective at the senior-most level. By helping us to establish more advanced measurements for assessing client relationships and customer behavior, Dave will be instrumental in organization-wide initiatives to conform TIAA-CREF’s programs, products, platforms and customer experience services to clients’ expressed needs.”
Mr. Allison added: “Our Market & Business Intelligence function will benefit from Sara Lipson’s capable, experienced leadership. Sara’s work also will span multiple organizational areas, as she and her team work to integrate business intelligence activities across the enterprise and lead development of a research strategy that assures our ability to weave a more informed view of our clients into everyday decision-making.”
Dave Edwards
Mr. Edwards joins TIAA-CREF from American Express Company. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Customer Acquisition and Relationship Management for Global Financial Services. In that role he was responsible for the design and deployment of a comprehensive customer experience and engagement framework which facilitated substantial improvements in customer satisfaction.
Among other positions held by Mr. Edwards at American Express Company: Head of International Cross Selling, International Risk and Information Management for Global Financial Services; Head of Underwriting, International Risk Management for American Express Travel Related Services International; and Vice President, Customer Information Management. Previously, Mr. Edwards was Vice President, Sales Support Services at Dun & Bradstreet, and Vice President, Portfolio Management, at Citibank.
Mr. Edwards holds a B.S. in Marketing and Finance and an M.S. in Production Economics and Quantitative Methods from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in Production Economics and Econometrics from Texas A&M University.
Sara Lipson
Ms. Lipson joins TIAA-CREF from Henry Schein, Inc., where she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing Officer and managed the creative services, market research and analytics, and brand management organizations. Before joining Henry Schein, Inc., Ms. Lipson was with AT&T, where she was Vice President, Brand Asset Management, and, before that, Director and later Vice President, Customer Sciences and Competitive Analysis.
Previously, Ms. Lipson was Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development and Market Research for Smith Barney/Shearson Lehman Brothers. She was also Market Research Director, Development Division for Citibank from 1988 through 1991, after having served as Marketing Director of Citibank’s Small Business and Professional Market New York Banking Division and spending two years as Vice President and Group Head of the Financial Services Practice for Lieberman Research. Ms. Lipson began her career at Young and Rubicam.
Ms. Lipson holds a B.A., magna cum laude, in Sociology from Brooklyn College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She holds both a M. Phil. and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University.
About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with more than $390 billion in combined assets under management (9/30/06) and is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. Further information can be found at www.tiaa-cref.org.
© 2009 and prior years, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), New York, NY 10017
