Edward Aractingi has been named Chief Information Officer at the College of William & Mary, where he will lead Information Technology, a critical partner in every aspect of learning and work at the university.

Aractingi currently serves as chief information officer at Marshall University in West Virginia, where he has also worked as an adjunct professor. As W&M’s CIO, he will lead Information Technology, a critical partner in every aspect of learning and work at the university.

“We welcome Ed Aractingi and his arrival to William & Mary during this critical time. We sought a technology leader with a deep commitment to our educational and research mission — who would be a great partner for faculty and staff leaders, and someone with a strong strategic orientation towards the future,” said W&M President Katherine A. Rowe. “Ed is someone who I am confident will advance Berni Kenney’s terrific work as interim CIO. On behalf of the whole university — our students, faculty and staff — it is a pleasure to be able to thank Berni for her true and inspiring leadership in this essential role.”

As chief information officer for W&M, Aractingi will report to Amy Sebring, whose own role will expand on July 1 to chief operating officer.  He will also have a strategic reporting line to the president and serve on the president’s cabinet. Among his responsibilities, Aractingi will bring together diverse groups to identify and implement strategic, university-wide IT solutions for teaching, learning, research and operations.

“After an extensive search with high interest nationally, Ed emerged as an exceptional leader, with a deep knowledge of the transformational capabilities that technology has on the way that we teach, learn, communicate and work,” said Sebring, who led the search committee and currently serves as vice president for finance and technology. “His commitment to higher education, passion for students, firsthand knowledge of the challenges faculty face, and his thoughtful communication style will serve him and the university well as we look to meet our strategic goals.”

In his current role at Marshall, Aractingi has directed the IT department and its many teams, including enterprise applications, information security, the infrastructure communications and data center, customer services, digital media and the ID office. He has managed the strategic and tactical operations of the organization and worked closely with faculty and students through classroom partnerships and collaborations.

Among his many accomplishments, Aractingi built a coalition across campus to apply data analytics to decision making and support student success, expanded WiFi coverage, deployed a robust identity management platform, fostered research collaborations with faculty and established a Technology Exploration and Innovation Research Lab focused on students. He is a recipient of the university’s Dedication to Student Life Award, selected by the student body.

“We are excited to begin working with Ed in support of teaching and learning innovation,” said search committee member Mark Hofer, a professor of education and director of the Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation. “His experience at Marshall building teams and structures that enable innovation through exploration and design thinking will provide excellent collaborative opportunities with the studio to support faculty and students as we explore new possibilities at William & Mary.

“His empathy for both students and faculty uniquely positions him to provide leadership and proactive support of teaching and learning with emerging learning technologies.”

Aractingi has worked for Marshall since 2003 when he was a graduate research assistant for the College of Information Technology and Engineering. In 2004, he became a senior IT associate and served in that role for two years before taking a position in technical services for Cabell Huntington Hospital. In 2009, he returned to the university’s staff as the director of IT infrastructure systems. In 2014, he became assistant vice president for IT and deputy CIO for the university until 2016 when he became the CIO.

In addition to his work in IT for higher education, Aractingi has also worked as an adjunct professor at Marshall since 2006, teaching computer science classes in the College of Information Technology and Engineering. He was also an adjunct for Strayer University from 2010 to 2015 and earned the university’s Provost Circle Award in 2013. He is the recipient of and principal investigator for several  federal grants, including one from the National Science Foundation for a project to build a higher-speed research network to better access on- and off-campus resources. Additionally, he has served as a review panelist on National Science Foundation research panels.

“I am thrilled to be joining William & Mary on its journey of continued innovation especially at this momentous stage of strategic planning,” said Aractingi. “I am deeply honored to be selected to lead the exceptionally talented technology team.”

Prior to his work at Marshall, Aractingi founded and led ACS Consulting Services, which provided clients network installation, systems administration, web design and development, systems analysis and support.

He has presented at conferences around the country and has served as a member of multiple professional organizations and committees. He served as co-chair of the Internet2 collaborative innovation program advisory group, a member of the CIO advisory council for the smart campus, co-chair of the Internet of Things working group for Internet2, a member of Educause IT Governance, Risk & Compliance Advisory Committee, and a member of the Leadership Board of CIOs.

Aractingi holds a bachelor’s degree from Damascus University, a master’s degree from Marshall and a Ph.D. in information technology from Capella University.

“It is exciting to know how much William & Mary values technology as a key strategic asset and as a transformative power for advancing the institution’s teaching, learning and research,” said Aractingi. “I look forward to partnering with colleagues across all areas and collaborating with the leadership team, deans, faculty, staff and students.”