New ITS Associate VPs Named
February 16, 2007
With the announcement of structural changes to Information Technology Services (ITS), Brian Roberts, CIO and Vice President for Information Technology, also introduces a new senior leadership team to help him meet IT challenges at The University of Texas at Austin. All ITS units are now aligned under three associate vice presidents, organized to create clearer reporting structures and management responsibilities. This team will also work to identify and support internal synergies to advance ITS operational excellence and provide outstanding service to our campus.
Ron Williams, Associate Vice President, Operations
Ron Williams has been named associate vice president, operations. In this role, Ron supervises all of the major technical functions of ITS, including networking, applications, data center and systems. By aligning these functions under one unit, ITS is better able to provide efficient, expert technical support and expertise to serve the university.
With an IT career that spans 20 years, Ron is uniquely qualified for this new role. He began his career managing Telecommunications Services at the university, before taking a position in 1994 at Applied Materials, a Fortune 500 company. For nine years he held various management positions within the company, with responsibilities for a wide range of IT services including telecommunications, data centers and systems groups both in Austin and Santa Clara, CA. He led a successful initiative to achieve and maintain ISO 9001 certification for all critical data center services.
Ron also served as Interim Director of eBusiness Technology Europe, supporting Applied Materials’ European headquarters in Amsterdam and regional IT offices in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Since returning to UT Austin, Ron has served as Assistant Director of Telecommunications and Networking, Director of the University Data Center and, for the past six months, Interim Director of User Services. He has been active in planning for the new data center initiative and led a task force for the UT System Strategic Leadership Council to explore opportunities for IT collaboration with other UT System institutions.
LB Brady, Associate Vice President, Business Services
LB Brady fills the position of associate vice president, business services. Her office will direct all business functions within ITS, including Accounting and Sales, ITS Human Resources, Purchasing, Contracts, and the Campus Computer Store. LB will also oversee the new Projects Office initiative to bring organization to ITS product and project management.
Since joining the ITS staff in 2002, LB has initiated new budgeting processes that have been important in making changes to the funding model for ITS. Before coming to ITS, LB managed financial affairs and led IT organizations for 22 years in both the public and private sector. She served as Chief Accountant for the Governor’s Office for two years, developing business and data requirements to administer a $100 million budget.
In three of her seven years with the City of Austin, she served as the Chief Information Officer, developing budget measures for information technology funding and projects. She was also instrumental in obtaining approvals for centralized and decentralized technology through business case analysis and public presentations. Under her leadership, institution-wide enterprise systems and service improvement projects were implemented, improving customer choices and providing greater overall effectiveness. In her most recent role as ITS Director of Administration, she has put an emphasis on staff development and streamlining business processes.
