Notre Dame CIO Gordon Wishon accepts Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader Award

Notre Dame Chief Information Officer Gordon Wishon recently accepted the prestigious Computerworld Premier 100 Information Technology Leader award at a ceremony in Palms Desert, Calif.

Premier 100 IT Leaders are chosen out of a field of approximately 500 nominees based on career accomplishments, peer recommendations and professional references. A selection panel of industry experts and Computerworld editors makes the final selection, according to Maryfran Johnson, Computerworld executive vice president and editor in chief.

Wishon, who was CIO at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta before joining Notre Dame as CIO in 2001, is director of the Office of Information Technology (OIT), a department of nearly 200 employees.  He also serves as associate vice president and associate provost at Notre Dame.

Shortly after his arrival at Notre Dame, Wishon and the OIT staff learned that Notre Dame would have to replace its administrative computer system because support of the then current system was being discontinued by its vendor. The multi-year replacement project, called Renovare, is considered one of the largest, most comprehensive management challenges the University has faced.  Although complex, Renovare will see the installation of several high-quality fiscal, student and personnel management systems that University administrators have long wanted and needed.

Gordon Wishon is both technically savvy and a skilled leader," says Provost Dr. Nathan Hatch. "His knowledge inspires confidence as Notre Dame now moves forward on several ambitious IT initiatives, including a three-year program to replace our administrative computer systems. We are well served by his leadership and expertise."

Only seven of the Premier 100 IT Leaders come from higher education. Most are senior IT leaders from the nation’s most well-know corporations, both technological and otherwise.  Wishon says he interpreted his honor as a sign that what we're doing here in the OIT at Notre Dame is truly noteworthy, and that the contributions of the members of this organization, its students and its faculty are viewed with respect by peers within the profession.

A survey of the 100 leaders indicated that they commonly believe their success is related to the quality of people with whom they work. Most of our Premier 100 leaders cringe at being singled out of the IT crowd for a special honor, Johnson says.

Wishon concurred.

Some think this profession is about technology -- it's not. It's about people -- people serving others, people who care about the institution, its mission, and its values, and people who take pride in what they do, he says.  If there's anything I'm proud of, it's how people throughout the OIT and from around the campus have come together in the past two years to tackle the challenges that have been set before us."