Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy announced today that Samuel Scozzafava Jr. has been named vice president for information technology and chief information officer for the University. The appointment is effective immediately.
Samuel Scozzafava Jr.
Scozzafava has served as interim CIO since June 1, 2014, filling the vacancy created when his predecessor, Christopher Sedore, was appointed senior vice president for enrollment management.
“The University was extremely fortunate to have a candidate so strongly positioned and well equipped to take on this critically important role,” says Liddy of the appointment. “Sam has been exemplary in his performance as interim CIO and vice president for information technology and proven himself to be both a skilled manager and an innovative leader. Both the search committee and I have complete confidence in him, and I know he will be a great asset to our leadership team.”
The appointment was the culmination of a national search that drew a competitive pool of 39 candidates. Scozzafava, who will report to the provost, was one of three candidates to be selected as semifinalists and asked to participate in interviews across campus. The search committee was chaired by Roger Merrill, assistant dean, technology services and facilities, for the School of Information Studies, and JoAnne Wallingford, associate director, human resources information technology.
“I am truly honored to be chosen to serve as the University’s next CIO,” says Scozzafava of the appointment. “I want to thank interim Provost Liddy for her support and guidance during my time in the interim role, and I look forward to continuing to work with her and other colleagues as we strive to find innovative ways to apply technology to support the University’s mission. I also want to thank Roger Merrill, JoAnne Wallingford and the entire search committee for their thoughtful approach and service to the University. I am excited by the opportunity to lead such an outstanding team and collaborate with our IT colleagues across the University.”
Scozzafava joined the University in 2007 and has served in a number of management-level positions with the University’s Department of Information Technology Services since then, including manager of the student administration application development team and director of enterprise application systems. Prior to his appointment as interim CIO, he served as the University’s associate chief information officer for administrative systems.
In his capacity as vice president for information technology, Scozzafava is responsible for overseeing the Department of Information Technology Services, which provides centralized technology and support services for academic and administrative functions of the University. The ITS portfolio includes the campus network and Internet connectivity, enterprise academic and administrative systems, information technology security, telecommunications, and telephone and walk-in service centers.
As CIO, he also is responsible for providing and promoting cost effective and strategic applications of information technology at the University; overseeing IT disaster recovery, security and privacy; and ensuring that the University appropriately invests in technologies to support teaching, research, learning and administration.
