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Leadership changes in research computing

Submitted by jach7912 on

As was announced by Chief Information Officer Marin Stanek in yesterday’s CU Boulder Today, effective Feb. 28, Thomas Hauser, director of research computing in OIT, is leaving CU Boulder to assume a new role at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Since coming to CU Boulder in 2010, Hauser has raised our campus’s visibility and prestige in research computing by building a strong computational and data infrastructure to support research. He and his team developed partnerships across the Rocky Mountain region through the Rocky Mountain Advanced Computing Consortium (RMACC), launching the RMACC Summit supercomputer, and Hauser served as one of two executive directors at the Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship (CRDDS), a collaboration between OIT Research Computing and University Libraries.

In order to ensure continuity and excellence in research computing as a national search is conducted for Hauser’s successor, we are pleased to announce that Shelley Knuth, associate director of research computing user support in OIT research computing, will step into the director of research computing role on an interim basis. 

Knuth earned a doctorate in atmospheric and oceanic science at CU Boulder and currently leads user experience, consulting, and training efforts for research computing as well as serves as the director of education and training in CRDDS. In addition, she is a member of the leadership team for the campus champion program, which provides advanced computing guidance to more than 600 researchers at more than 300 institutions across the United States. 

Over the next several months, OIT will work with key campus partners such as the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) and University Libraries to gain more insight into how CU Boulder can continue to improve upon and scale computational research support and provide for cloud computing support, expand research data services, and create easier access to advanced compute and data resources. This insight will help inform the national search for Hauser’s successor. Learn more about this transition in CU Boulder Today.