OU names new chief information officer | News

In an email sent to OU faculty and staff, OU Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Matt Brockwell announced the appointment of Nishanth Rodrigues as the university’s new chief information officer, pending approval by the OU Board of Regents. 

According to Brockwell, Rodrigues brings 20 years of strategic and IT leadership experience, leading several initiatives in his current role as chief information officer at the University of Mississippi, including the construction of a new data center and leading the institution in strategic digital transformation services.

“We are confident that his focused, forward-looking vision will be transformative to not only OU IT, but also to the collective advancement of our university,” Brockwell wrote in the email. 

Before working at the University of Mississippi, Rodrigues served as the assistant vice president and chief technology officer at Michigan State University and was the director of IT and chief information security officer at Bronson Healthcare.

According to Brockwell, Rodriques is affiliated with Cisco Higher Education Advisory Council, the SAP Higher Education Research Advisory Council and the chief information officer of Visions Steering Committee.

The officer position has been vacant since last spring, after David Horton left the university to serve as Penn State’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Horton served as OU’s chief information officer for five years.

Rodrigues will be taking over from interim Chief Information Officer Chris Kobza. In the email, Brockwell thanked Kobza for his service. 

“We are incredibly grateful to Chris Kobza for his leadership as Interim CIO over the past five months, helping to maintain service and support continuity during our search process,” Brockwell wrote.

Pending regents approval, Rodrigues will join OU on Sept. 30.

This story was edited by Ana Barboza. Andrew Paredes copy edited this story. 

Anusha is news managing editor and covers the OU campus community and administration. She wants to amplify underrepresented voices, promote inclusivity and diversity in her reporting and serve her community as a storyteller. Anusha is originally from Stillwater and can be contacted at anusha.fathepure@ou.edu.