Lev S. Gonick (Case Western Reserve University)

Lev Gonick, vice president for information technology services and CIO at Case Western Reserve University, has been teaching, working, and living on the Net since 1987. Gonick is chair of the CIO Executive Council’s higher education committee. He also co-chairs Cisco Systems Higher Education Executive Exchange. Gonick founded the award-winning community ultrabroadband provider, OneCommunity. Today he is Chairman Emeritus of the organization and sits on its Board. He has served on multiple national and international Boards related to education, the arts, and technology. His regional, statewide and national leadership and innovation has led to dozens of articles, blogs, podcasts, documentaries, panels, and book chapters. Gonick has been recognized in multiple annual editions of Cleveland Magazine, Crain’s Cleveland, and Inside Business as one of the top 50 and 100 most influential persons in Greater Cleveland. Lev was acknowledged by ComputerWorld as a Premier100 IT leader and by CIO magazine's CIO100 group. He and Case Western Reserve University have been awarded two Computer World Laureates for the innovation work associated with Cleveland 2.0 and OneCommunity. Gonick's extensive international efforts in education and technology date back to 1985. More than 20 ago, he supported the development of HealthNet and Mango, one of Southern Africa's first Internet nodes, facilitating connectivity between health-care professionals and nongovernmental organizations in the field in Southern Africa. He has been involved in designing and implementing digital learning network projects in West African countries and in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine. Gonick received his PhD in international political economy from York University in Ontario, Canada.