Biography
Brian is currently serving as Research Engagement Manager for a grant-funded project with the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University, focusing on the role that people play in the advance of the use of cyberinfrastructure in support of research in the cloud. Brian ended his full-time CIO career at the University of Maryland in 2014, having served as its vice president for information technology and CIO. Subsequently, Brian was contracted by Case Western Reserve University in 2014 to serve briefly as interim CIO while the institution completed a search process for a permanent leader. He was also chosen to perform in a similar role as interim vice president and CIO for Clemson University, during the Fall of 2016 and was called back for a second term in the Spring of 2017. Previously, he was vice chancellor and CIO at Louisiana State University, and before that and for over two decades, he held several, advancing leadership positions in the ground-breaking information technology organization at Indiana University.
Brian consults on leadership and information technology in higher education. With 35 years experience in in higher education and the private sector, Brian is an internationally respected leader in the field. He has been at the forefront of many broad-impact initiatives and trends in information technology, including the development of research-focused cyberinfrastructure advancing discoveries in the sciences, arts, and humanities, the rise of MOOCs and the proliferation in use of online learning, cybersecurity and its impacts on institutional risk and compliance, and the broader value in the development of sound IT environments in support of the mission of 21st Century universities.
Brian was honored as the first-ever EDUCAUSE Presidential Fellow in 2012; he served the association and the community of higher education IT professionals as a knowledgeable and experienced voice, clearly articulating the critical role that information technology plays in addressing the transformation of higher education in the face of the disruption currently underway. Brian maintains his close associations with current CIOs throughout higher education and the respect he has garnered within the community enables him to be effective in facilitating productive dialogue between members of that community and IT services organizations and corporate entities.
Service and Broader Impact of Involvement
Throughout his career, Brian served the community of higher education IT professionals in many roles. At the capstone of his career, he served as a community-elected member on both the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors (2011-2014, and it’s Vice-Chair 2013-2014) and the Board of the Kuali Foundation (2012-2014). Brian's past service to the community includes engagements in advisory functions for: the NSF Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure (ACCI) Campus Bridging Task Force; A colleague-selected member of Microsoft's Higher Education Advisory Group; Co-Chair of the EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC); Chair, Deputy Chair and a founding member of the Research and Education Network Information Sharing and Analysis Center (REN-ISAC) Executive Advisory Group; and as an elected CIO representative to the Internet2 Architecture and Operations Advisory Council, and member of the Internet2 Abilene Executive Committee.
Brian has been a leader in the development of campus and regional-level cyberinfrastructure to support and advance research; during his career, he has been a Primary Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on projects awarded more than $12 million from the NSF. Throughout his career, Brian has been part of several ground-breaking IT initiatives, including enterprise software licensing strategies employed by major vendors (like Microsoft, Adobe, and others), LSU's program for personal information security (credit) monitoring (with Equifax), and LSU's migration to the open source Moodle learning management system. He was intensely involved in national cybersecurity, risk, and compliance initiatives throughout his career. He gained national recognition in the area of disaster recovery planning following experiences in Louisiana with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Brian's publication and presentation contributions span a broad set of topics, including cyberinfrastructure and high-performance computing environments, IT-enabled research, IT-enabled teaching and learning, telecommunications and advanced research networking, Administrative deployment of IT systems, IT support and pervasive computing, economic development impact of IT, IT leadership, IT strategic planning, IT security and policy, and disaster impacts on business/IT continuity planning. He led initiatives that were recognized for excellence by EDUCAUSE for IU's work in advanced networks (I-Light) and online IT support systems (IU's Support Knowledgebase). Brian is an engineer by training, graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Engineering.