Brooks named UW–Madison chief information officer

Lois Brooks has been appointed as the new chief information officer and vice provost for information technology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Brooks, who currently serves as CIO and vice provost, information and technology at Oregon State University, has years of experience in large research-intensive higher education institutions. In addition to Oregon State, Brooks previously worked at Stanford University.

She will start at UW–Madison on Aug. 1.

Brooks has expertise in issues of IT strategy, innovation, cybersecurity, analytics and operational excellence.

“UW’s clear vision for the positive influence the university can have on the citizens of Wisconsin, its achievements in education and research, its deep commitment to the students and the community, and its boundless drive for knowledge and innovation make this opportunity compelling and exciting,” she says.

She looks forward to helping to enable UW–Madison to solve global challenges, using technology and information to extend the UW’s educational and research programs along with designing technology, information strategy and resource models.

Brooks holds a bachelor’s degree in applied economics from the University of San Francisco, an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Columbia University.

Brooks succeeds Michael Lehman, who was named interim chief information officer in February 2017 following the retirement of Bruce Maas. Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf, whose office oversees the department, thanks Lehman and Maas for leading the Division of Information Technology (DoIT), and praises Brooks’ experience.

“We are very excited to have Lois on board, leading our IT efforts forward,” Mangelsdorf says. “UW–Madison is fortunate to have had excellent leadership in the area of information technology, and that tradition will continue.”

She looks forward to helping to enable UW–Madison to solve global challenges, using technology and information to extend the UW’s educational and research programs.

The VP-CIO is responsible for working with the UW–Madison community to develop and implement strategic IT plans and managing key campus IT resources and services.

The VP-CIO will oversee the Division of Information Technology, the central IT organization for campus. DoIT has an operating budget of about $100 million, with more than 600 full-time staff and 200 student staff.

The division provides core IT infrastructure services, develops and implements applications (including major administrative applications for both UW–Madison and the UW System) that underpin the research, teaching, learning, engagement and business activities of the university, and plays a major role in managing the statewide higher education network.