The Chief Information Officer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reports to and works closely with the Provost and other campus leaders. The CIO’s duties include overall responsibility for the central academic IT organization (Technology Services at Illinois), IT governance, and participating in national and international organizations and consortia. The CIO chairs the campus IT Council, whose portfolio includes both infrastructure governance and implementation of IT governance decisions.
IT Governance
Technology plays a mission-critical role in helping the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign remain a preeminent public research university with a land-grant mission. The creative development and use of cutting edge technology resources helps transform all dimensions of our academic enterprise, including research, teaching and learning, and public outreach. Simply put, technology in each of these areas helps to support and transform the University of Illinois. Learn more about IT governance.
IT Policies
The Office of the CIO, helps formulate IT policies for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. You can find links to specific IT policies by visiting the Information Technology Policies page.
Office of the CIO Personnel
Chief Information Officer
Mairéad Martin
Mairéad joined the University of Illinois and Technology Services in July 2022 after serving three years as the CIO of EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology.
Deputy CIO, Strategic Partnerships
Scott Genung
Scott Genung is the Deputy CIO of Strategic Partnerships at the University of Illinois. He has nearly 30 years of higher education IT technical and leadership experience spanning three distinct institutions including the University of Chicago, University of Oregon, and Illinois State University.
Assistant CIO, IT Planning and Outreach
Beth Scheid
Beth Scheid is the Assistant Chief Information Officer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has been a part of academic computing on the campus for over 37 years. She serves as a strategic advisor to the Urbana Campus CIO, playing an essential role in strategy formulation and advancing delivery of innovative IT initiatives in support of teaching, research, and outreach for the Urbana campus. She oversaw the installation and support of the campus-wide network and facilitated the implementation of a campus-wide rates and funding model covering basic IT and computing services.
Deputy CIO, Research IT Services
John Towns
In the role of Deputy CIO, John works to enhance technologies and services used in research. Drawing on his resources and experiences at NCSA, Technology Services, and other campus units, John is well prepared to meet these challenges. He focuses particular attention on high-performance computing, high-speed networking, big data, and visualization.
Deputy CIO, Innovation and Technology Strategy
Tracy Smith
Tracy Smith is the Deputy CIO for Innovation & Technology Strategy at the University of Illinois. She has more than 20 years of experience in supporting, managing, and leading technology teams and programs, She partners across campus and beyond to advance areas including research support, cloud enablement, data as an enabler, broadband expansion, and equitable access to technology for marginalized populations
Acting Deputy CIO, IT Operations
Drew MacGregor
Drew MacGregor is the Interim Deputy CIO for IT Operations at the University of Illinois. He has been engaged in customer relationship development for 28 years, 23 in higher education Information Technology. Drew has worked at all levels of the University of Illinois, including the Department of Computer Science, Engineering IT, and CITES/Technology Services since 2012.
Interim Chief Privacy & Security Officer
Sandra Thompson
Sandra Thompson is the Interim Chief Privacy and Security Officer at the University of Illinois. She arrived on campus over 30 years ago to pursue a Master’s in Computer Science and stayed, fulfilling a variety of roles in the College of Engineering and Technology Services. Sandra is an advocate for people–centric, secure IT services as well as flexible work initiatives.