I have always loved math, thanks in large part to my wonderful high school
advanced math teacher. In 1983, I began transitioning to computer science, finding that it was
a nice way to apply all of the advanced problem solving techniques and creative thinking
that goes with higher order math. I have a strong interest in the visual arts
and am sometimes a participant through painting and photography.
I have degrees from Louisiana State University (B.S. in Mathematics Education), Ohio State University
(M.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer and Information Science), and
the University of Mississippi (Ph.D. in Engineering Science).
I taught high school math for one year at St. Amant High School in East Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
From 1986-1988, I was a Member of Technical Staff with AT&T Bell Laboratories. I worked on a project
called NetStar for British Telecom. This was an incredible professional experience, and it
was wonderful to learn C and Unix right from the source.
My family and I moved to Oxford, Mississippi in 1988
where I began working with the
Mississippi Center for Supercomputing Research supporting HPC researchers and applications. I began serving as the
Director of Academic Computing in 1998, Assistant Vice Chancellor in 2003, and Chief Information Officer in 2006.
I retired as CIO in 2017 and am continuing to work on software development and data analytics projects.
I love working with the various teams in the Office of Information Technology
and have thoroughly
enjoyed UM's SAP project and the rich technology environment that it
provides.
I am proud of our advanced use of workflow, digital imaging,
and other similar technologies for
enhancing enterprise business processes.
I enjoy staying hands-on with technology and recently completed
a
Certificate in the Practice of Data Analytics offered by the Ohio State University
College of Engineering.
Recent and Upcoming Activities
- Instructor for ACCY 628 Data Modeling and Visualization - August 2018 to present
-
Insights from Campus Leaders on Current Challenges and Expectations of IT, November 2017
-
Automation and the Well-Run University, July 2017
- Faculty director of the EDUCAUSE Institute Leadership Program, 2017
- Faculty member for the EDUCAUSE Institute Leadership Program, 2015-2017
- Lessons for Leading IT Teams and Projects, March 2017
- 2016 Mississippi Digital Government Summit Advisory Board
-
Internet2 Community Engagement Program Advisory Board (through 2017)
- Internet2 NS Ops Excellence Community Steering Team
- SAP Higher Education Advisory Council (through 2017)
-
Women in Tech @ Ole Miss, April 2016
-
Invited panelist for the Internet2 Webinar, "Communication in the Cloud: From Notification to Collaboration" (February 2016)
-
Invited panelist on social media and security for the
Women in Higher Education
Mississippi Network (February 2016)
Invited panelist on the topic of information security at the
Mississippi Digital Government Summit, September 2015
-
Technology in Higher Edcuation: Defining the Strategic Leader, EDUCAUSE-JISC Working Group, April 2015
-
Analytics Strategies: Talent Management and Staff Development with Mark Saine, Senior Director at TIAA-CREF, 2015 EDUCAUSE Administrative IT Summit in Seattle
-
Suite on HANA at the University of Mississippi,
2015 SAP Higher Education and Research User Group (HERUG) Conference in Cambridge, England.
- Co-Director of the Hawkins Leadership Roundtable, 2014
- Oxford Science Cafe: In-Memory Databases and Big Data, November 2014
- Envisioning the Future CIO: Building a Recipe for Success with Nigel Cunningham and Thad Lurie, October 2014
- Planning for the Future: The Next CIO with Mark Askren, September 2014
- Straight Talk About the Cloud, EDUCAUSE Review Online, February 2014
- Maximizing the Value of Student Ratings Through Data Mining, Book chapter (#14) in Educational Data Mining with Dawn Wilkins, Sumali Conlon, Sue Mossing, and Maurice Eftink, December 2013
- EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Discussion Session: Straight Talk about the Cloud, October 2013
- CIO Blog: What I Learned This Summer about MOOCs, August 2013
- EDUCAUSE SERC CIO and Executive IT Roundtable, May 2013
- University Business Webinar titled, "Creating an Effective Mobile App for Higher Ed" , May 2013
- EDUCAUSE Review Online article titled, "Adventures in Mobility", July 2012
Online Music