Curtis A. Carver Jr., Ph.D., has been named the next vice president of Information Technology/chief information officer of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Carver comes to UAB from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, where he served as vice chancellor and chief information officer.
In his new role, Carver will serve as the senior IT leader at UAB, provide the strategic management and vision to guide the future direction of IT in support of the administrative, academic and research missions of UAB, and oversee the central IT organization in collaboration with the Health System Information Systems unit.
The VP IT/CIO reports directly to UAB President Ray L. Watts.
“Dr. Carver has a terrific background and reputation, and we are thrilled that he will be joining UAB,” Watts said. “This position is vitally important because IT touches all areas of the institution, and I want to thank the search committee that worked diligently to lead a national search and identify fantastic candidates. Dr. Carver is a great fit for UAB.”
Carver, who will lead development of a transparent, high-performing central IT organization with a culture of providing first-rate customer service and implementing reliable, state-of-the art technologies, is looking forward to moving to his transition.
“I am honored and excited to join the UAB team as it seeks to simply change the world,” Carver said. “Information technology can enable and empower that change by facilitating the work of others and creating business value. I look forward to moving to Birmingham, listening intently and setting about the work worth doing of enhancing the experiences of all members of the UAB family.”
With the proliferation of big data computing in research, UAB IT will play a critical role in expanding UAB’s research capabilities across campus.
“I am excited Dr. Carver has accepted the VP IT/CIO position at UAB,” said Hemant Tiwari, Ph.D., head of the Section on Statistical Genetics in the School of Public Health and faculty representative on the search committee. “I am looking forward to working with him in strengthening Research IT to meet the demands of current and future needs of research scientists at UAB. I have full confidence in Dr. Carver to find the optimal solution to meet the needs of big data research at UAB.”
Carver, who will lead development of a transparent, high-performing central IT organization with a culture of providing first-rate customer service and implementing reliable, state-of-the art technologies, is looking forward to moving to his transition. |
In addition to his role in IT, Carver’s extensive experience will benefit UAB students in the classroom. He has a passion for teaching and will hold an academic appointment in Computer Sciences.
Prior to joining the University System of Georgia, Carver served at the U.S. Military Academy – West Point in a number of positions, including interim vice dean of Education, vice dean for Resources, associate dean for Academic Computing and IT program director.
Carver’s 27-year military career includes appointments as platoon leader, senior signal officer, company commander, battalion operations officer, division deputy G6 and military mentor. He has lived in Korea and Italy and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served as a strategic mentor to build their respective national military academies.
Throughout his career, Carver has been engaged in the active leadership of military, academic, research and service organizations. He has served as a member of a number of governing bodies or executive boards, including the Computer Science Accreditation Board, Computer Accreditation Commission, multiple CIO Executive Summits and the Federal Information Assurance Conference. He is a senior-level member in the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers professional societies and continues to play an active role in shaping the national agenda in technology, education and the interaction between the two. In 2012, Carver received the Global CIO Break Away Leader Award.
Carver has written many journal articles and conference papers, as well as hundreds of plenary presentations, and is a frequent keynote presenter. He has received numerous national and international honors and awards for military, teaching and research excellence throughout his career.
Carver’s first day at UAB will be June 1. The VP IT/CIO role was vacated in 2014 and has been filled on an interim basis by Jeff Neyland.
“We are very grateful to Jeff for his leadership, vision and dedicated service in leading IT,” Watts said. “He was instrumental in helping us assess our needs for the department and its next leader. We are confident we have identified a great fit for UAB IT.”