June 6, 2013
Tom Putnam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
To the Campus Community:
After 6 years of excellent service to the campus as Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Tom Putnam has decided to retire effective July 1, 2013. I want to take this opportunity to thank Tom for all of his contributions to advancing information technology on this campus on many fronts.
Tom came to us with nearly 40 years of computer systems experience, including 35 years of management responsibility in university, scientific, and engineering R&D oriented environments. This included stints at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Honeywell, Inc., Purdue University, and Texas A&M.
During his time at UC Santa Barbara we benefited from Tom’s experience and wisdom in helping us move forward on replacing many of our aging IT systems. We have completed a student information system code conversion, embarked on replacing our financial system, and are rolling out campus-wide an electronic time-keeping system, e-procurement system, and cloud-based collaboration suite. We are also preparing for adoption of the new systemwide personnel and payroll system. Tom has also been instrumental in moving us to a new FTE-based technology infrastructure fee to stabilize funding for the campus communication infrastructure, and in renovating part of North Hall to create a new data center for the campus. He has consistently provided sage advice and guidance to the many IT groups on campus.
A search advisory committee for a new CIO is being formed and will be announced in the near future. In the interim, Elise Myer will serve as the Acting Director of the Office of Information Systems and Technology, and Denise Stephens and Eric Sonquist will serve as co-chairs of the recently-formed Information Technology Council.
Please join me in thanking Tom and wishing him all the best in retirement.
Sincerely,
Gene Lucas, Executive Vic Chancellor