Kamran Khan named new vice provost for information technology

Kamran
Khan named new vice provost for information technology

BY MARGOT DIMOND
Rice News staff

Kamran M. Khan
will join Rice University as its first vice provost for
information technology March 1.

Khan

Managing a staff
of 100 full-time employees and a budget of $11 million,
Khan will be responsible for campus networking and security,
campus-wide systems infrastructure, Web services and the
Academic Computing Enterprise (ACE). ACE provides support
and services to the language laboratories, online subscriptions,
digital library initiatives, classroom technology, campus
networking, student computer laboratories and workspaces,
desktop computer and workstations, Web, audio/visual and
research. ACE also coordinates closely with the Computer
and Information Technology Institute (CITI) and its related
information technology-oriented research centers.

Khan comes to
Rice from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he
has served since 1998 as vice president of information technology/chief
information officer. He also served as co-chair of the Information
Technology Advisory Committee, member of the president’s
cabinet, staff representative for the Board of Trustees
Technology Committee and was part of the planning committee
for the college’s new $25 million digital library,
as well as a member of the institutional information security
policy and Web committees.

During Khan’s
tenure at Marist, the institution was ranked in Yahoo’s

100 Most Wired Institutions (Survey 2001). Some of his accomplishments
include planning and implementing the latest gigabit advanced
network project campus-wide; implementing Internet2; implementing
a campus-wide network wiring replacement plan; upgrading
the mainframe and server infrastructure; planning and deploying
technology for new and renovated building projects totaling
$75 million; renovating the data center and technology spaces;
implementing Web-based applications campus-wide; implementing
the Online Voyager Library Catalog System; upgrading and
integrating administrative systems; a 24X7 support environment;
re-engineering the campus-wide help desk; campus-wide PC
replacement cycle; developing instructional smart classrooms;
developing instructional computer labs; re-engineering student
residential network support team for students; and implementing
a client- and Web-based e-mail system campus-wide.

Khan also was
instrumental in various research initiatives at Marist with
IBM Corp., working with faculty and students to develop
and test advanced applications in a distributed environment.

“I am delighted
that Kamran Khan will be joining Rice as vice provost for
information technology,” said Rice Provost Eugene Levy.
“Kamran will bring his experience, enthusiasm, commitment
and a strong work ethic to the job. Information technology
is a crucial element of Rice’s future. I have every
confidence that Kamran will find the challenges and opportunities
at Rice to be stimulating and rewarding, and I also have
every confidence that Kamran will bring the mix of skill,
ambition and intensity that will move Rice information technology
forward in important dimensions, and that will help advance
our academic and scholarly programs.

“At the
same time, I certainly want to be sure to express gratitude
to Chuck Henry, who carried the taxing dual responsibility
of leading both the library and IT for three and a half
years. It was a heavy responsibility, which Chuck fulfilled
with distinction, and from which we all benefited. Rice
IT is much the better for Chuck’s leadership. I know
Chuck is looking forward to being able, once again, to devote
his full time and energy to his first love: the library.
And, lastly, I want to be sure to acknowledge and thank
the search committee, ably chaired by Tony Elam, associate
dean of engineering, for so effectively and successfully
carrying out this search with me.”

Prior to serving
at Marist College, Khan was director of computing and information
technologies at Hollins University and director of management
information systems in the Office of Institutional Advancement
at Dartmouth College.

Khan is an active
member of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission
is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent
use of information technology, and is on the board of directors
for NYSERNet for Advanced Network Technologies and Applications,
a consortium comprised of extensive doctorate research universities
and institutions in New York. He is the recipient of two
National Science Foundation (NSF) awards and for the past
two years has served on three NSF panel reviews and has
presented at national and local conferences in the area
of information technology.

He holds a master’s
degree in liberal studies from Dartmouth College, an MBA
from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., and a bachelor’s
of science in business administration from the University
of Massachusetts–Lowell.

“The world
is changing rapidly and information technology plays an
increasingly important role in the challenges we face in
the 21st century,” said Khan. “This position provides
the opportunity to contribute to Rice’s mission of
teaching and research and to assist the academic leadership
at the forefront of discovery and innovation that is taking
place at the undergraduate, graduate, research and rich
interdisciplinary areas. I am looking forward to working
collaboratively with the Rice community on the educational
challenges and boundless opportunities we will embark upon
over the coming years.”