Jelinkova new vice president for information technology and chief information officer

Klara Jelinkova has been appointed Rice University’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Jelinkova, who currently serves as senior associate vice president and chief information technology officer at the University of Chicago, will join Rice in January.

Jelinkova photo courtesy: University of Chicago

A Rice task force studied the university’s information technology (IT) functions over the past 18 months and developed a number of recommendations aimed at making IT more strategic, more responsive to users and more innovative, effective and efficient. The recommendations included creating the chief information officer role.

The CIO will bring together the university’s academic and administrative IT units — two separate areas that have historically reported to the provost and the vice president for administration. As vice president for IT, Jelinkova will report to Rice President David Leebron.

“I am thrilled that Klara is coming to Rice to assume the new position of chief information officer and to be a key member of our leadership team,” Leebron said. “The effective investment in and use of technology will be critical in the years ahead to both our teaching and research endeavors, and Klara will bring both leadership and vision as we work to establish Rice as a university IT leader in this rapidly changing environment.”

Jelinkova has led and transformed organizations that have included both private and large public universities. Prior to the University of Chicago, Jelinkova held information technology positions at Duke and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is also a leader in research networking, as well as identity and access management.

“I am delighted to be joining Rice University, where technology is playing an increasingly important role in all aspects of university life and has the potential to catalyze new ideas in both education and research,” Jelinkova said. “I look forward to working with the faculty, students and staff at Rice to articulate an innovative technology vision for Rice and make that vision a reality.”

Jelinkova will serve on Leebron’s senior management team and play a leadership role in developing IT strategies that support the university’s core education and research missions.

Jelinkova graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a B.A. in economics and Slavic languages. She serves on the board of Internet 2 and as chair of InCommon, an organization working to improve access to online resources for U.S. education and research institutions. Jelinkova said she and her husband, James Werner, are excited about moving to Houston.