Professional Objective

Summary of Experience

Director of the technology and data resource center for a premier research university, at the leading edge of exploitation of information systems in information-delivery activities. General-management responsibility for the technical and service infrastructure that supports institutional information systems, including library and business systems. Personal involvement and management experience in nearly all activities of a diverse IS organization. Successfully managed both organization downsizing and growth, and addition of new program within constant budgets, while maintaining mission-focus and staff morale. Now managing major migration of 130 technical staff, dozens of systems, and thousands of users from locally-developed mainframe technologies and services to open, client/server, distributed systems. Developed information and technical architecture for the transition to distributed systems. Successfully introduced campus-wide on-line data base management, electronic forms and transaction processing systems, campus-wide information systems, decision-support systems, and data warehousing.

Scope of Capabilities

A successful blend of strategic vision and tactical focus, an "integrative thinker." Excellent ability to get a diverse team working together, and to create a healthy organization. Builds excellent working relationships with peers, customers, suppliers, colleagues and staff. Not turf oriented; high team-orientation. Can quickly galvanize a team around a new product idea or technology, using a vision that draws people into their shared future. Able to respond quickly to new ideas using pilots to test feasibility. Excellent at the interdisciplinary thinking needed to span a broad range of technology and programmatic issues and trends; able to explain implications and alternatives to senior management and customers. Excellent at communication, presentation, brainstorming and research, at handling the ambiguity often found in starting out on a new path.

Experience

Stanford University

• Director, HighWire Press (Current): Launch new technology-based enterprises for the University, to advance the capability of scholarly societies to rapidly and efficiently publish research results, and to change the economics of scholarly communication. Use of RAD approach, SGML and Web tools for rapid proofs-of-concept.

• Director, Stanford Data Center (1987-1995): General manager responsible for software, hardware, marketing, customer service, finance and operations infrastructure for University-wide information systems. Migrated organization from home-grown to non-proprietary, non-host technologies and services. Implemented major enterprise-wide data access programs; accomplished four budget reductions through organization and technology downsizing. Staff: 130; budget of $19M, with revenue accountability.

• Director, Data & Technology Resources (1983-1987): Responsible for data base management, time-sharing, telecommunications and operating system software for University-wide information systems, as well as major data resources. Implemented significant extensions to infrastructure and service environment to support campus-wide on-line data base management strategy. Staff: 30, budget of $4M.

• Director, Data Base Management Group (1980-1983): Responsible for maintenance and enhancement of locally-developed data base management environment (SPIRES), used in very large (50Gb+) information-retrieval and decision-support applications. Staff: 15.

Research Libraries Group

• Director, Planning and Schedules (1979-1980): Staff function reporting to President, developing systems and service plans in response to changes in corporate goals and strategies. Evaluated and recommended alternatives for timely delivery of services to market. Implemented project management discipline in organization.

• Associate Director for Systems (1978-1979): Staff function reporting to Director of Systems. Responsible for significant hiring in a new organization on the leading edge of large-scale database, information retrieval, and library automation technologies. Evaluated and recommended technical alternatives for hardware and software, for rapid development and phased delivery, for major technical strategies.

Stanford University

• Programming Supervisor, Programmer/Analyst (1975-1978): Developed Stanford's first major on-line DBMS-based end-user information-retrieval, decision-support, and transaction-processing applications, using prototyping techniques. Trained and supported programming staff and end-user staff; wrote full DBMS documentation; created the still-extant SPIRES Consortium of 40 higher-education institutions, and developed annual international workshop for its membership.

Education and Honors

• M.A. in English, Stanford University. 1976.
• B.A. with Highest Honors and Summa Cum Laude, in English and Philosophy, University of Virginia. 1974.
• Phi Beta Kappa, University of Virginia. 1974.
• Echols Scholar, University of Virginia. 1970-1974

Selected Publications

• "Organization Issues." In Distributed Computing: Implementation and Management Strategies. Ed. Raman Khanna. 1994.
• "Organizational and Technological Strategies for Higher Education in the Information Age." In Reinventing Higher Education. Ed. Sean Rush. 1995. Previously published as CAUSE Professional Paper Series, #13. 1994.
• "Reality Bytes: Learning Experiences on the Road to Open Systems". Executive Uniforum. 1994.
• "Open Systems for Open Minds: Building the Library Without Walls". In College & Research Libraries. Spring, 1986.

Affiliations

• Board member, Stanford Federal Credit Union.
• Board Member, User Alliance for Open Systems.
• Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), EDUCOM, CAUSE, Internet Society, ACM, Uniforum, Computer-Human Interface (CHI), AMA, SIM.