Stephen J. Laster (Harvard Business School)

Mr. Laster is a seasoned technologist, business leader, product strategist, eLearning designer, and educator with extensive background in information technology, eLearning, and higher education.

As the CIO of Harvard Business School, Mr. Laster leads a team of 100+ professionals who oversee the School’s award winning computing environment. Prior to this role, Mr. Laster held several critical leadership positions for Babson College including CTO for Babson Interactive, Babson’s for-profit eLearning company, and Director of Curriculum Innovation and Technology. He was responsible for Babson’s adoption of blended learning and led the effort to increase working professional MBA enrollments by 500% through the creation of a state-of-the-art, blended, MBA program. Mr. Laster has been an adjunct instructor in the Information Technology Management Division and served on several key committees for the college as well as the Academic Council. Mr. Laster was a member of the Babson College Board of Trustees from 1992-1994.

Prior to focusing his career on the apex of technology and education, Mr. Laster worked in industry both in information technology and technology product development. He has developed and run a network monitoring business, developed enterprise software packages and led major re-engineering and implementation efforts. Mr. Laster has held leadership positions at Stride Rite, Art Technology Group, CrossComm, Advanced Business Technologies, Inc., and Sapient.

Mr. Laster sits on the board of Recycline and is a seasoned speaker and consultant. As a consultant, he works with companies to improve their use of technology in operations and product offerings. He is considered to be a leader in e-learning and digital community building, and was recognized by IBM for thought leadership in message oriented middleware and by Ed Tech Magazine as a thought leader in educational technology.