EDUCAUSE VP Oblinger to Receive 2006 NUTN Distinguished Service Award

The National University Telecommunications Network (NUTN) will honor EDUCAUSE Vice President and Director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Diana G. Oblinger with the NUTN 2006 Distinguished Service Award at its annual event, “Managing and Maintaining Quality in Distance Learning,” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 12, 2006. This is the highest honor given by the NUTN Advisory Board, which consists of individuals representing institutions and organizations at the forefront of distance learning efforts.

NUTN is a professional organization of institutions involved in the development and delivery of distance learning and technologies that support that effort. The NUTN Advisory Board selected Oblinger both for her current work with EDUCAUSE and her previous leadership positions with major technology firms and higher education institutions that have resulted in significant contributions to distance learning.

Oblinger leads the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), a community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to advancing learning through information technology innovation. In addition, she is an adjunct professor of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University.

Prior to joining EDUCAUSE, she served as the executive director of Higher Education for Microsoft and in various management roles for IBM’s higher education division. After holding faculty positions at the University of Missouri–Columbia and Michigan State University, Oblinger served as CIO for the 16-campus University of North Carolina system and as senior fellow with the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR).

Known for her leadership in teaching and learning with technology as well as distributed learning, Oblinger serves on a variety of boards including the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Education and Human Resources, the National Academies Forum on Information Technology and Research Universities, and the University of Texas TeleCampus. She chairs the National Visiting Committee for the National Science Digital Library project for National Science Foundation. Oblinger has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Employment, Safety, and Training and the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Technology.

Oblinger is a frequent keynote speaker and coauthor of the book What Business Wants from Higher Education, which received the 1999 Frandson Award for best literature in continuing education. In addition to coediting six other books—The Learning Revolution, The Future Compatible Campus, Renewing Administration, The “E” Is for Everything, Best Practices in Student Services, and Educating the Net Generation—she is the author or coauthor of dozens of monographs and articles on higher education and technology.

Oblinger has received outstanding teaching and research awards and was named Young Alumnus of the Year by Iowa State University. She holds three degrees from Iowa State University: a BS in botany, an MS in plant breeding, and a PhD in plant breeding and cytogenetics. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi.

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 2,200 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 250 corporations, with 17,000 active members. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.

About NUTN

The National University Telecommunications Network (NUTN) is committed to providing dynamic leadership and support of applications of new and emerging technologies in distance education. As a premier distance learning professional organization, involved in both professional development and product development, NUTN provides vision and experience to higher education institutions and professionals serving numerous constituencies and organizations. Learn more about NUTN at www.nutn.org.