Akron, Ohio, Jan. 26, 2000 Thomas Gaylord has been named Vice President for Information and Instructional Technologies, Libraries, and Institutional Planning at The University of Akron. Gaylord's appointment as the University's chief information and technology officer was approved today by the University's Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting. He begins duties Feb. 1, 2000.
I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees, the administration and all my new colleagues at The University of Akron, Gaylord says. Higher education in North America is undergoing revolutionary changes. I am delighted to join an institution that views this dynamic period as a time of great opportunities and advancement.
Gaylord has broad experience in information technology and institutional research. He has worked at three major research universities, including the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he served as associate vice chancellor for planning, computing, and information systems. He has held senior level positions at a state coordinating commission, and most recently held system and institutional level positions in Canada.
Gaylord joins the University from his post as chief executive officer of GDA Research & Information Systems Inc., based in Vancouver, British Columbia. As GDA's chief executive officer, Gaylord administered all corporate business activities, including project and contract management. From 1996-97 he served as GDA's chief research officer, and was responsible for initiating research and conducting policy analysis that had an impact Canadian public post-secondary education systems. Gaylord also designed and implemented British Columbia's first Internet-enabled post-secondary education data warehouses.
Gaylord has held a variety of technical and research posts, including strategic planning and information systems consultant for the Technical University of British Columbia; chief of research and information systems/managing consultant for the Centre for Educational Information; and data warehouse consultant for the University and Community College System of Nevada.
A 1990 graduate of Harvard's Management Development Certification Program, Gaylord received a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Florida in 1980. He earned a masters degree in physics from the same institution in 1977, a year after receiving a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Alaska.
Gaylord will be joined in Akron by his wife, Sophie, and their two-year-old son, Timothy.
