Penn State appoints Morooney as Vice Provost for Information Technology

University Park, Pa. -- Penn State has appointed Kevin M. Morooney as vice provost for information technology, effective Oct. 1.

Morooney succeeds Gary Augustson, who has served as the University's first and only chief information officer for the past 24 years.

Morooney, who has served as the senior director of academic services and emerging technologies at Penn State since July 2002, will be responsible for more than 500 full-time and nearly 200 part-time University employees managing telecommunications, computing, and other IT services across Penn State.

"We're delighted that Kevin will be taking on an even greater role in providing leadership for Penn State's vast, complex information systems," said Rodney A. Erickson, executive vice president and provost. "The information technology organization at Penn State is the envy of our peers across the nation, and Kevin's vision and plans for enhancing Penn State's strengths in teaching, research and service through technology will serve the University well."

In his current role, Morooney has been responsible for providing organizational leadership to several technology development and service areas, such as applied information technologies, emerging technologies and graduate education and research services. These units support a wide range of University functions, including faculty and student research, applied investigations of new technologies that aid in scholarship endeavors, and information services that assist many academic and administrative functions at the University. Morooney began his Penn State career in 1988 as a research programmer. He has taken on positions of increasing responsibility over the years, including manager of numerically intensive computing, director of graduate education and research services, and senior director of the Center for Academic Computing.

"The challenges in information technology for an institution of the size and complexity of Penn State are great," said Morooney. "We've had strong leadership in IT for more than two decades, and trying to maintain and improve upon our accomplishments only adds to the challenge. Our team is passionate about Penn State and very capable -- we are ready to embrace a new future."

Morooney, who holds a bachelor's degree in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Tech, is the author of more than two dozen professional presentations and published works. Earlier this year, he was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for a workshop on effective approaches to campus research computing cyberstructure.