KU hires Tulane technology leader as new CIO

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Neeli Bendapudi and the incoming Interim Provost and EVC Carl Lejuez jointly announced that Mary Walsh, assistant vice president for academic and administrative systems at Tulane University, will be the new chief information officer for the KU Lawrence and Edwards campuses.

“I am excited we are bringing someone with Mary’s vision, knowledge, breadth of experience and leadership style to the university,” Bendapudi said. “I’m confident she will be able to lead KU Information Technology in directions that support and enhance KU’s strategic goals and also ensure students and scholars are able to achieve their professional and academic objectives.”

Walsh will begin her responsibilities July 1. Her current responsibilities at Tulane include strategic direction and leadership for planning, budgeting, implementation and ongoing support for academic and administrative technology. In addition, she is responsible for aligning technology resources to support and enhance high-activity research needs, innovative pedagogy and student success.

Walsh has more than 30 years of experience in information technology in higher education and research. Her long tenure at Tulane includes major improvements in technology to support the university’s academic and research missions. She gained valuable experience in disaster recovery and business continuity as she helped guide and manage recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

Walsh is a mentor and coach for the Posse Foundation, a college access and youth leadership development program. She is involved in service at both the national and state level. As a member of EDUCAUSE, the leading higher education technology association, she currently chairs the organization’s Recognition Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Louisiana Digital Government Summit Advisory Board. Walsh is in the final stages of completing her doctorate and masters in linguistics and anthropology. Her dissertation is focused on language, women and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Tulane and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Montclair State University.

The KU CIO provides vision, strategy, leadership and oversight of the university’s information technology services, infrastructure, hardware and software, ensuring the university leverages technology to promote excellence in academics, research and innovation. The CIO provides management oversight of KU IT resources and leads the development, implementation and ongoing updates of the IT strategic plan. As KU’s technology leader, the CIO works collaboratively with KU leaders, faculty, staff and students and represents KU IT and the university to various state, regional and national organizations, as well as divisions of state government.

In his previous role as dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Lejuez chaired the CIO search committee, which was composed of faculty, staff and students.

“The committee did a remarkable job of finding strong candidates and introducing them to campus,” Bendapudi said. “We had an amazing amount of helpful and insightful feedback from the campus community, which guided Carl and me in this decision. I appreciate the committee’s diligence and commitment to finding the best CIO for KU.”

“I want to thank Senior Associate Vice Provost Mike Rounds and KU IT’s senior leadership team for their stewardship of KU’s technology infrastructure and services during the past year. They did a phenomenal job.”

KU Information Technology provides a broad range of services to the KU community. From data to voice, email to video, web-based academic and administrative systems, software and virus protection, KU IT delivers innovative services in support of learning, scholarship, research and creative endeavor. KU IT includes a 24/7 enterprise data center and approximately 275 staff members with expertise in server and desktop support, application support, software development, IT security, networking, as well as customer support and project management.