October 21, 2005 Source: Wilfrid Laurier University:
http://www.wlu.ca/news_update.php?grp_id=28&nws_id=945&filter_type=update John Kearney appointed new director of information technology services After an international competition that attracted more than 100 applications, Information Technology Services found its new director – down the hall. John Kearney, associate director of information technology, has been appointed director of Information Technology Services, replacing Raj Govindarajan. His appointment was confirmed at the October 19 Board of Governors’ meeting. Kearney, 42, has been with Laurier since 1998, when he was hired as manager of information systems to bring the Banner software system up to speed. "It was the infancy of the Banner system at Laurier," he says, "and they wanted a brand new implementation. It was just what I had done at Uniroyal." Kearney, a native of Montreal, attended McGill University, where he earned a BCom in information systems and finance. After graduation, he went to work for Canadian Pacific as a programmer/analyst and looked after the computer-based information systems in the controller’s office. Deciding that more education would be required if he was ever to advance to a management position, Kearney took a leave of absence and attended Concordia University for two years, earning an MBA. "It was a smart move," he says, and one of the most useful things he took away from the program was the confidence to speak in public. "I used to dread public speaking and making presentations," he says. "But in the second year of the program that was basically it: making presentations. It made a big difference." Kearney joined Uniroyal Chemical in 1991, spending two years in Elmira and five in Middlebury, CT, with travel to Mexico and Brazil thrown in. "I was putting in data and telecommunications networks, and implementing SAP software," he says. At Laurier, Kearney was promoted from manager of information systems to associate director of information technology. In 2003, he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a master’s degree in engineering, in the management of technology. Kearney sees the challenges ahead as expanding the pockets of wireless connectivity on campus to include the entire Waterloo campus in the next few years, to keep the Kitchener and Brantford campuses on par with developments in Waterloo, to ensure that technology remains secure while also being made more open and available, more strategic planning, consultancy with users, and planning for worst-case scenarios. "We need to complete a disaster recovery plan at the departmental level, and a business continuity plan university-wide," he says. "We’re looking at partnering with Laurier Brantford in setting up redundant systems. They’re in different communities, on different parts of the power grid, so they could back each other up. Kearney, who became married (to Cathy Dean) this year, enjoys golf, softball, travelling, gardening and landscaping. He also plans to start working on a PhD in January. Barry Ries
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