On Wednesday, January 30, Provost Robert A. Blouin announced that J. Michael Barker will serve as the Interim Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, effective February 1. Mike has served in a variety of roles since joining ITS in 2009 and has developed a dynamic and nuanced understanding of the academic, research and administrative technology needs of our campus.
Mike currently serves as Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Technology Officer in ITS. In his role as Associate Vice Chancellor, Mike has oversight over learning technologies, including Sakai, CCI printing and classroom hotline, as well as research computing, encompassing high-performance and high-throughput scientific computing services. Under Mike’s leadership, the impact of the research computing group has multiplied, giving researchers access to innovative and emerging technologies required to power their work, most recently through the introduction of a cloud strategy that makes industry-leading providers readily available. As Chief Technology Officer, Mike is charged with ensuring Carolina implements common technology frameworks that share coherent adoption criteria, as well as supporting, examining and refining our technology plans.
In his decade at Carolina, Mike has had responsibility for a broad array of the central IT portfolio, giving him excellent insight into the needs of the organization for his tenure as Interim. Prior to his current role, Mike served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Computing & Learning Technologies from 2013 to 2017, and as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Infrastructure & Operations and Communication Technologies from 2009 to 2013. Before coming to Carolina, Mike served in a variety of IT leadership roles at Florida State University.
In addition to his work with ITS, Mike is also a Clinical Professor of Information Science at the School of Information and Library Science. He earned his doctorate in Philosophy from Florida State University and is active in the field, contributing to peer-reviewed journals such as The Review of Metaphysics and International Philosophical Quarterly.