Women in Technology and the Technology Association of Georgia have selected 43 finalists for the 2004 Woman of the Year in technology.

“Each year we witness an extraordinary display of technology innovation and business savvy from the growing pool of women leaders in Georgia who are directly impacting strategic growth and direction at their companies,” said Kasie Scott Palmer, president of WIT and director of customer advocacy with Computer Associates, in a statement. “The 2004 award holds special significance because it is the fifth anniversary of this award and embarks on the second decade of WIT history and excellence.”

The winner will be announced on April 15.

The competition is supported by Grant Thornton, Kilpatrick Stockton, Bear Stearns and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The nominees are:

  • Char Baxter, CEO, Char Baxter Communications, LLC

  • Linda Beck, Executive VP of Operations, Earthlink

  • Beth Benefield, CIO, Houston Healthcare

  • Erin Bertelsen, Director, HRIS, Cox Communications

  • Marilyn Black, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Ari Quality Sciences

  • Becky Blalock, Senior VP & CIO, Southern Company

  • Shirley Bridges, VP of Airline Operations Systems, Delta Technology

  • Raleigh Burgess, President & Founder, Seventh Wave Technology

  • Tricha Diaz, VP, Verizon Wireless

  • Lynn Dunn, CIO, Acsys, Inc. & Accountants, Inc.

  • Marla Eichmann, VP of Operations, Internap

  • Sally Foster, VP Global Customer Support, Internet Security Systems, Inc.

  • Margaret Godsea, CIO, AFC Enterprises

  • Deborah Green, CIO, Centennial HealthCare Corporation

  • Sandra Hoffman, CIO, MAPICS

  • Diane Hotzel, SVP, Engineering & Operations, Pathfire

  • Wanda Hudgins Spain, Founder & CEO, Advanced Business Centered Technologies, Inc.

  • Linda Hughes, CIO, North Highland Company

  • Laurie Johnson, VP & CIO, UPS Supply Chain Solutions

  • Sue Johnson, Partner, Accenture

  • Sandra Kerney, VP Information Services, Gold Kist

  • Kristin Kirkconnell, CIO, AGL Resources

  • Kirsten Kliphouse, General Manager South East District, Microsoft Corporation

  • Carla LaMorta, CIO, ZC Sterling Corporation

  • Karen Lennon, CEO, Beyond Z Interactive Media

  • Mylle Mangum, CEO, International Banking Technologies

  • Merry McCleary, Founder, BCGroup, LLC

  • Elaine Mitchell, CIO, The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta

  • Martha Myers, Prof of Information Services, Kennesaw State University

  • Kari Oliver McCartney, IT Director, Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.

  • Sharon Quaintance, Co-Founder & CEO, LawDocsXpress

  • Sondra Rhodes-Johnson, Director of GAT’s Office of External Affairs, Georgia Technology Authority

  • Lorene Sartan-nPorta, Director, Client Management, nPorta

  • Laura Sellers, Director of Information Mgmt, Inner Harbour

  • Janet Shultz, Director, IBM Global Services

  • Lynn Slavenski, VP of Corp. Education, Equifax

  • Angela Staup, Director of MIS, Goodwill Industries of North GA

  • Gina Tiedemann, Director, GeorgiaNet-State of Georgia, Georgia Technology Authority

  • Susan Ulicny, CIO, Network Communication, Inc.

  • Rebecca Watson, CIO, AutoTrader.com

  • Judy Wicks, VP Corporate Communications, CheckFree Corp.

  • Christine Williams-Timme, Co-Founder & CEO, FinListics(R) Solutions and CFOEd(R)

  • Shari Willman, Creative Services Manager, The Home Depot

    • The winner will be selected by a panel of judges that includes: Thaddeus Arroyo, CIO of Cingular; Scott Gellar, CEO of Invistics and chairman of TechBridge; Kathy Harris, senior vice president of Business Development for Noro-Moseley Partners; Sue Powers, CIO and senior vice president of Worldwide Solutions for Worldspan; and Richard Warner, Anchor with GPTV’s Georgia Business Report and CEO of What’s Up Interactive.

    The awards ceremony will also include a keynote speech from Scott Coleman, president of SciTek.

    For information about the awards ceremony, visit: www.tagonline.org