Leadership Awards 2003 Winners

Excellence in Leadership

Polley Ann McClure
Vice President, Information Technologies
Cornell University

Professional Background
Polley McClure has been called one of the strongest leaders in higher education today. She has managed university information technology organizations since the early 1980s, at three major academic institutions: Indiana University, the University of Virginia, and Cornell University. Trained as a scientist, she taught ecology and evolutionary biology and conducted research on animal life-history traits at Indiana University, and has continued to hold faculty appointments throughout her career. Her academic experience has honed the communication and collaboration skills, capacity to find exciting possibilities for institutional improvement, focus on staff career development, and high sense of ethics that characterize her work in the information technology community.

Dr. McClure's contributions to the institutions she has served are profound. At Indiana, she built one of the first institution-wide network infrastructures and led one of the first mergers of administrative and academic technology organizations in the U.S., helping staff from both widely differing cultures understand the strength of the consolidated organization. At Virginia, she successfully merged the academic, administrative, and voice communications activities into a single organization that provides a model of how IT in higher education can more effectively support a research university's mission. Her name is synonymous with forward-thinking approaches to building both a platform of technology to support the academic enterprise, and the staff expertise to maintain and strengthen that infrastructure.

On the national level, Dr. McClure has been an extremely important and influential leader of EDUCAUSE and its predecessor associations. While on the boards of both CAUSE and Educom she guided strategic analyses that catalyzed the merger of the two organizations in 1998. As the first elected chair of the EDUCAUSE board, she helped define policy directions that gave substance to the new organization and was widely respected for her sensitivity to both individual and organizational concerns about the change. Other volunteer commitments include consulting work for numerous universities and service on the boards of the Snowmass Seminars on Academic Computing, SIGUCCS, and the Institute for Academic Technology, and on corporate advisory councils. Her many publications and speeches, in both biological literature and IT management, reflect her thoughtfulness, good sense, and perceptiveness, as well as her trademark ability to identify connections among seemingly isolated problems and develop a holistic response. She recently edited the newest volume in the EDUCAUSE Leadership Strategies series, Organizing and Managing Information Resources on Your Campus.

Dr. McClure holds a B.A. in zoology and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.A. in ecology from the University of Montana.

EDUCAUSE is making a $5,000 contribution in Dr. McClure's name to the Graduate School Gift Fund at Cornell University, to provide support for a female Ph.D. student in either Ecology and Evolutionary Biology or the Computer and Information Science program.

Leadership in the Profession

Martin Ringle
Chief Technology Officer
Reed College

Professional Background
For more than 20 years, Marty Ringle has contributed to the higher education IT profession as a change agent, a collaborator, and an organizer. A deep believer in the role and mission of small liberal arts colleges, his career has been marked by his ability to meld diverse entities into a coherent whole. In the 1970s he held a series of faculty appointments in the discrete fields of philosophy, psychology, and computer science, work that culminated in his leading the development of the first bachelor's program in cognitive science in the U.S., at Vassar College in 1978. In 1983 he became chair of Vassar's computer science department and a tenured faculty member. Since 1989, Dr. Ringle has served as chief technology officer for Reed College, where he has built a strong staff, outstanding facilities, and solid institutional reputation for excellence in computing. At Reed, he has applied his fiscal acumen toward leveraging relationships with vendors, alumni, and other institutions to provide cost-effective approaches to IT.

In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in the creation of the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC)—a national nonprofit group of 59 selective colleges. He brought the same collaborative strengths to his work with the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC), developed to provide Internet access to the northwest. He chaired the NWACC board through a recent transition in which the group sold its asset, NorthWestNet, and since 1999 has served as president and CEO of the consortium.

Chair of the EDUCAUSE board of directors in 2002, Dr. Ringle has also served on the Educom board, the boards of the Cognitive Science Society and the Carnegie Inter-University Consortium for Educational Computing, and other professional and corporate advisory boards. He is a respected consultant for numerous colleges, known for his ability to deliver clear, useful reports; his extensive publications and presentations are popular for their warmth and enduring insight.

Dr. Ringle holds a B.A. in philosophy and a dual Ph.D. in philosophy and computer technology from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

EDUCAUSE is making a $2,000 contribution in Dr. Ringle's name to Binghamton University.

Leadership in Information Technologies

Kenneth J. Klingenstein
Project Director, Internet2 Middleware Initiative
and Chief Technologist, University of Colorado at Boulder

Professional Background
Ken Klingenstein has been involved in computing technology and solving complex problems for almost three decades. One of a handful of leaders who put and has kept academia at the forefront of Internet development, he is widely respected for his breadth and depth of knowledge, his uniquely accurate visionary abilities, and skill in identifying and communicating the salient problems and issues embedded in complex, often chaotic, advanced network environments.

Dr. Klingenstein's academic career has taken him from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he became director of computing services in 1981, and then to the University of Colorado, Boulder, as director of information technology services in 1985. In 1999, he was named CU Boulder's Chief Technologist and loaned out to spearhead the Internet2 Middleware Initiative.

As director of the Middleware Initiative, Dr. Klingenstein has drawn together a thriving community of international technical talent that has delivered on several software development projects, the impact of which could be profound. Through his leadership and persistence, many can now envision a time when the systems on separate campuses will begin to inter-operate. One key to his success is his ability to convince campus CIOs of the validity of his vision, and to commit resources that can move the higher education community to that common goal.

One of the true Internet pioneers in the higher education IT community, he was early involved in NSFnet development, chaired the Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee, and has participated in many federal advisory groups on network policy and technology. He served on the board of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), and was among the key initiators of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) security activities at a national level. He has served on governing bodies of CAUSE, the Common Solutions Group, and the Coalition for Networked Information, as well as regional and national networks. He was one of the first people in the country to recognize the importance of community and school networking: he received the first NSF grant issued to systematically network a school district and create professional development opportunities for teachers, and a similar community network grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for the Boulder Community Network. His many workshops, talks, and publications convey his intelligent perception of a complex technology environment with authority, wit, and clarity.

Dr. Klingenstein holds a B.A. in mathematics from Brandeis University, and an M.A. in mathematics and Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.

EDUCAUSE is making a $2,000 contribution in Dr. Klingenstein's name to a scholarship supporting Native American education.

Professional Development Mentoring Information Kit Management and Leadership Offerings Conferences, Seminars, and Institutes Jane N. Ryland Fellowship Program EDUCAUSE Awards Higher Education IT Events Calendar Job Opportunities Volunteer Opportunities		Leadership Awards 2003 Winners Excellence in Leadership Polley Ann McClure Vice President, Information Technologies Cornell University Professional Background Polley McClure has been called one of the strongest leaders in higher education today. She has managed university information technology organizations since the early 1980s, at three major academic institutions: Indiana University, the University of Virginia, and Cornell University. Trained as a scientist, she taught ecology and evolutionary biology and conducted research on animal life-history traits at Indiana University, and has continued to hold faculty appointments throughout her career. Her academic experience has honed the communication and collaboration skills, capacity to find exciting possibilities for institutional improvement, focus on staff career development, and high sense of ethics that characterize her work in the information technology community. Dr. McClure's contributions to the institutions she has served are profound. At Indiana, she built one of the first institution-wide network infrastructures and led one of the first mergers of administrative and academic technology organizations in the U.S., helping staff from both widely differing cultures understand the strength of the consolidated organization. At Virginia, she successfully merged the academic, administrative, and voice communications activities into a single organization that provides a model of how IT in higher education can more effectively support a research university's mission. Her name is synonymous with forward-thinking approaches to building both a platform of technology to support the academic enterprise, and the staff expertise to maintain and strengthen that infrastructure. On the national level, Dr. McClure has been an extremely important and influential leader of EDUCAUSE and its predecessor associations. While on the boards of both CAUSE and Educom she guided strategic analyses that catalyzed the merger of the two organizations in 1998. As the first elected chair of the EDUCAUSE board, she helped define policy directions that gave substance to the new organization and was widely respected for her sensitivity to both individual and organizational concerns about the change. Other volunteer commitments include consulting work for numerous universities and service on the boards of the Snowmass Seminars on Academic Computing, SIGUCCS, and the Institute for Academic Technology, and on corporate advisory councils. Her many publications and speeches, in both biological literature and IT management, reflect her thoughtfulness, good sense, and perceptiveness, as well as her trademark ability to identify connections among seemingly isolated problems and develop a holistic response. She recently edited the newest volume in the EDUCAUSE Leadership Strategies series, Organizing and Managing Information Resources on Your Campus. Dr. McClure holds a B.A. in zoology and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.A. in ecology from the University of Montana. EDUCAUSE is making a $5,000 contribution in Dr. McClure's name to the Graduate School Gift Fund at Cornell University, to provide support for a female Ph.D. student in either Ecology and Evolutionary Biology or the Computer and Information Science program. Leadership in the Profession Martin Ringle Chief Technology Officer Reed College Professional Background For more than 20 years, Marty Ringle has contributed to the higher education IT profession as a change agent, a collaborator, and an organizer. A deep believer in the role and mission of small liberal arts colleges, his career has been marked by his ability to meld diverse entities into a coherent whole. In the 1970s he held a series of faculty appointments in the discrete fields of philosophy, psychology, and computer science, work that culminated in his leading the development of the first bachelor's program in cognitive science in the U.S., at Vassar College in 1978. In 1983 he became chair of Vassar's computer science department and a tenured faculty member. Since 1989, Dr. Ringle has served as chief technology officer for Reed College, where he has built a strong staff, outstanding facilities, and solid institutional reputation for excellence in computing. At Reed, he has applied his fiscal acumen toward leveraging relationships with vendors, alumni, and other institutions to provide cost-effective approaches to IT. In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in the creation of the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC)—a national nonprofit group of 59 selective colleges. He brought the same collaborative strengths to his work with the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC), developed to provide Internet access to the northwest. He chaired the NWACC board through a recent transition in which the group sold its asset, NorthWestNet, and since 1999 has served as president and CEO of the consortium. Chair of the EDUCAUSE board of directors in 2002, Dr. Ringle has also served on the Educom board, the boards of the Cognitive Science Society and the Carnegie Inter-University Consortium for Educational Computing, and other professional and corporate advisory boards. He is a respected consultant for numerous colleges, known for his ability to deliver clear, useful reports; his extensive publications and presentations are popular for their warmth and enduring insight. Dr. Ringle holds a B.A. in philosophy and a dual Ph.D. in philosophy and computer technology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. EDUCAUSE is making a $2,000 contribution in Dr. Ringle's name to Binghamton University. Leadership in Information Technologies Kenneth J. Klingenstein Project Director, Internet2 Middleware Initiative and Chief Technologist, University of Colorado at Boulder Professional Background Ken Klingenstein has been involved in computing technology and solving complex problems for almost three decades. One of a handful of leaders who put and has kept academia at the forefront of Internet development, he is widely respected for his breadth and depth of knowledge, his uniquely accurate visionary abilities, and skill in identifying and communicating the salient problems and issues embedded in complex, often chaotic, advanced network environments. Dr. Klingenstein's academic career has taken him from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he became director of computing services in 1981, and then to the University of Colorado, Boulder, as director of information technology services in 1985. In 1999, he was named CU Boulder's Chief Technologist and loaned out to spearhead the Internet2 Middleware Initiative. As director of the Middleware Initiative, Dr. Klingenstein has drawn together a thriving community of international technical talent that has delivered on several software development projects, the impact of which could be profound. Through his leadership and persistence, many can now envision a time when the systems on separate campuses will begin to inter-operate. One key to his success is his ability to convince campus CIOs of the validity of his vision, and to commit resources that can move the higher education community to that common goal. One of the true Internet pioneers in the higher education IT community, he was early involved in NSFnet development, chaired the Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee, and has participated in many federal advisory groups on network policy and technology. He served on the board of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), and was among the key initiators of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) security activities at a national level. He has served on governing bodies of CAUSE, the Common Solutions Group, and the Coalition for Networked Information, as well as regional and national networks. He was one of the first people in the country to recognize the importance of community and school networking: he received the first NSF grant issued to systematically network a school district and create professional development opportunities for teachers, and a similar community network grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for the Boulder Community Network. His many workshops, talks, and publications convey his intelligent perception of a complex technology environment with authority, wit, and clarity. Dr. Klingenstein holds a B.A. in mathematics from Brandeis University, and an M.A. in mathematics and Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. EDUCAUSE is making a $2,000 contribution in Dr. Klingenstein's name to a scholarship supporting Native American education.
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