TULANE TALK

January 9, 2009

Good Morning:

I am pleased to announce that Charlie McMahon will become Tulane University’s new vice president for information technology and chief technology officer effective February 1. Charlie is a well-known and respected figure throughout the information technology community because of his roles at LSU where he currently serves as chief technology officer at the Center for Computation and Technology, deputy CIO of Information Technology and executive director of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI), one of the country’s most advanced optical networks.

Charlie was largely responsible for securing the $40 million in funding needed to build and operate LONI, which enables Louisiana researchers to exchange large amounts of data instantaneously with fellow researchers throughout the country.

This kind of broad vision and leadership is what made Charlie such an attractive candidate for a position that, among other duties, is responsible for protecting and enhancing our ability to communicate and conduct research via e-mail and websites, to maintain student records and pay employees electronically, to post lecture notes, assignments and discussions on Blackboard and to perform such basic tasks as conducting business over the phone. These and other information technology resources are vital to carrying out the mission of Tulane.

Charlie replaces Paul Barron, who has been the vice president for information technology and CIO at Tulane since January 2006. Paul’s dedication to Tulane during the last 30 years is well-known. Among other roles, he has served twice as the interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost and was enlisted as a senior officer-at-large in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I want to thank Paul for his long and distinguished service and look forward to his future contributions as he returns to the Tulane Law School, where he has been a faculty member since 1976.

I also want to thank Lance Query, dean of libraries and academic information resources, members of the search committee and Yvette Jones, chief operating officer and senior vice president for external affairs, for their hard work in leading the search that brought us such a qualified candidate. Welcome to Tulane, Charlie.

Have a great weekend,