We’re excited to share that we have named Brian Wesselhoff as our new CIO! Brian is based out of our Home Office in suburban Milwaukee.
Brian was promoted from his role as our VP – Information Technology earlier this year. While we are sad to see our former CIO, Tom Knapp, retire at the end of 2022, we look forward to seeing Brian thrive in this role. And, we wish Tom all the best during his well-deserved retirement years! Brian and Tom have been working together closely to ensure a smooth transition for all our team members, customers, and business partners.
Brian started his WMC career in March 2018, when he was hired as our IT Manager. In January 2021, he was promoted to VP – Information Technology.
When Brian joined our team four years ago, he had more than 20 years of experience in IT management. During his time here with us, he has led several large-scale initiatives and critical projects to support our secure and advanced technology environment. Brian and his team also led the change to a work-from-home environment at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – which was a huge undertaking – and ensured that our team members nationwide could work effectively in a remote capacity.
Brian’s most recent accomplishments include the modernization of the corporate data center, enhancement of the new employee IT onboarding process for individuals and branches, increased reliability and uptime for all IT infrastructure systems, and much more.
In his new role as CIO, Brian will lead our many technology initiatives, such as hardware, servers, data center, data and voice technologies, and security measures. He will also oversee the management of our ticketing system, which streamlines requests across various departments.
“I appreciate the opportunity Waterstone Mortgage has provided me to continue to develop as a professional and a leader within the organization,” Brian says. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without – first and foremost – my family, the support of my talented employees who execute our strategy, and our supportive and accessible executive leadership team at Waterstone Mortgage. I look forward to our continued investment in reliable, efficient, and innovative technology solutions that enable our organization to continue delivering the American dream of homeownership.”
Brian has been married for 20+ years to his wife, Beth, who recently published her first mystery novel, The Shrill of It All: A Rae Greyson Mystery. Brian and Beth have two children, a son who is in high school and a daughter who is a sophomore in college. In their free time, Brian and Beth love to play tennis, listen to music, and travel. Their favorite travel destination is Charleston, South Carolina – where they have been four times.
Brian has lived in Wisconsin for many years, since graduating from Carroll College (now Carroll University) in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He originally majored in Environmental Science with a minor in Computer Science, but then decided to major in Computer Science too – so he holds B.S. degrees in both. He says, “I ultimately made the right choice to enter IT and haven’t looked back!”
Brian found a rewarding career here at Waterstone Mortgage. Are you looking for a place to expand your professional skills? Find out what we have to offer our team members, and check out our current job openings.
