Message from campus leaders on J. Michael Barker
Barker has been named as Carolina’s next vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer.
Dear Carolina Community,
We are pleased to announce that J. Michael Barker will serve as the University’s next vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer, effective Feb. 1. Mike has served as interim vice chancellor in this position since January of last year. He is a dynamic leader who understands the academic, research and administrative technology needs of our campus and the fast-changing world of information technology.
As interim vice chancellor and CIO, Mike has had responsibility for a broad array of Carolina’s central IT portfolio. He has proven his ability to recognize evolving challenges and provide long-term direction for the development and implementation of information technology initiatives at Carolina. As a vice chancellor and member of the chancellor and provost’s leadership cabinets, he will have a central role in implementing ITS initiatives and objectives in Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good, the University’s strategic plan.
Mike has served in a variety of roles at Carolina. He joined the ITS team in 2009 as assistant vice chancellor for infrastructure and operations and communication technologies. Prior to his current assignment, Mike was the associate vice chancellor and chief technology officer in ITS. In this position, he was charged with ensuring the implementation of common technology frameworks that share coherent adoption criteria, as well as supporting, examining and refining campus technology plans.
His accomplishments included overseeing learning technologies, including Sakai, Carolina Computing Initiative printing and the classroom hotline, as well as research computing. Under Mike’s leadership, the impact of the research computing group multiplied, giving researchers access to innovative and emerging technologies required to power their work, most recently through the introduction of a cloud strategy that makes industry-leading providers readily available. From 2013 to 2017, he was the assistant vice chancellor for research computing and learning technologies.
Before coming to Carolina, Mike served in several IT leadership roles at Florida State University.
In addition to his work with ITS, Mike also serves as a clinical professor of information science at the UNC School of Information and Library Science. He earned his doctorate in philosophy from Florida State University and remains active in this field, contributing to peer-reviewed journals such as The Review of Metaphysics and International Philosophical Quarterly.
Please join us in congratulating Mike on his appointment.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Chancellor
Robert A. Blouin
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
