Following a national search, Kent State University has selected John M. Rathje as its vice president for information services and chief information officer. Mr. Rathje comes to Kent State from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he has served as associate vice chancellor and chief information officer. He has significant experience in both higher education and industry sectors, including 15 years of increasingly complex leadership roles in higher education. He joins Kent State on March 5.
Mr. Rathje will report directly to Mark Polatajko, Kent State’s senior vice president for finance and administration, and will serve on the President’s Cabinet. He will lead a division of approximately 100 staff members and has responsibility for leading the university’s information technology in support of the vision and priorities of Kent State’s six-year plan, A Strategic Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State.
“John is held in high regard for his innovative approaches to technology and thought leadership in higher education,” says Kent State President Beverly Warren. “I believe John will be a strategic and service-focused leader, and will be a collaborative partner with faculty, staff and students on the use of technology and data.”
Mr. Rathje earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Master of Science degree in computer science, both from Central Michigan University, where he spent seven years as director for application development before joining the university’s College of Medicine, first as interim director for technology and later as the assistant dean for technology.
For more information about Kent State’s Division of Information Service, visit www.kent.edu/is.