Augustson Receives National Recognition for Excellence in Leadership
September 10, 2001
University Park, Pa.—EDUCAUSE, an association of more than 1,800 colleges, universities, education organizations and corporations dedicated to addressing issues surrounding the incorporation of information technologies into higher education, is honoring J. Gary Augustson, Penn State’s vice provost for information technology, with its 2001 Excellence in Leadership Award.
The award--the association’s highest individual one--recognizes extraordinary effectiveness, influence, statesmanship and lifetime achievement at both individual campuses and within the wider higher education community.
For more than 20 years, Augustson has led Penn State’s nationally recognized efforts in applying information technology to the challenges faced by higher education. As chief information officer of the 24-campus, comprehensive research university, Augustson’s focus has been on facilitating and creating learning communities and supporting top-quality research. This has required construction of a flexible information technology infrastructure that embodies “best in class” applications and management techniques that he has continued to develop and adapt throughout his professional career.
Augustson is nationally respected for his early advocacy and leadership of higher education’s national networking efforts, and for the key role he has played in shaping the higher education position on national technology policy issues. According to the award selection committee, he is recognized by his peers as a visionary, a creator and a builder of constituencies to implement a vision.
Among other distinctions, he chaired the steering committee of Educom’s Internet2 project, which led to the creation of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). Augustson then served on UCAID’s board of directors and was first chair of its Network Policy and Planning Advisory Committee.
At the state level, he was instrumental in establishing PREPnet, the Pennsylvania Research and Economic Partnership Network, where he was an advocate for outreach, quality of service and equity among the various constituencies.
A key behind-the-scenes player in the founding and early success of the Coalition for Networked Information, he was also instrumental in ensuring the implementation of a number of early networked information projects such as the Z39.50 interoperability testbed for library exchange. In addition, Augustson was an early advocate of involving the presidential associations (particularly the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges) more closely with information technology policy and politics, and has been effective in obtaining corporate support for new campus initiatives and in balancing the interests of the corporate and educational worlds.
According to an EDUCAUSE announcement, “An intuitive sense for the next important issue for higher education information technology, strong critical and organizational skills and an extraordinary ability to build alliances have positioned Augustson as one of the most influential leaders behind many of the major higher education technology initiatives in the past decade.”
He will be recognized in Indianapolis, Ind., on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the EDUCAUSE annual conference, a forum for more than 5,000 professionals involved in the management of information resources in higher education and their corporate partners. As part of this award, EDUCAUSE will make a $5,000 contribution in Augustson’s name to the Renaissance Fund, an endowed fund providing support for the brightest Penn State students with the greatest financial need.
The Excellence in Leadership Award is sponsored by SCT, An EDUCAUSE Platinum Partner. Award winners are selected by the EDUCAUSE Recognition Committee, consisting of higher education technology professionals selected for their breadth of experience and understanding in their fields. For further information, visit http://www.educause.edu/awards/.
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