After three and a half years of strong leadership and dedicated service as the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO), Paul Padley will take on a new role on July 1, 2025, as an advisor to President DesRoches and Kelly Fox, Executive Vice President for Operations, Finance & Support. We had the opportunity to sit down with Paul to discuss this new role and how he’ll help advance the university’s strategic goals.
What motivated your decision to transition from CIO to an advisory role?
As CIO, my primary job was to ensure that our IT strategy aligned with the university's mission and strategic plan. With that alignment now in place, it’s time to pass the baton to a new leader who brings deep experience in IT operations and will ensure the effective execution of those plans and continued progress.
Looking back, what are some of the most significant achievements and lessons learned during your tenure as CIO?
One of the most significant achievements was fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation within the IT department. By aligning our IT strategy with the university's mission, we were able to support key initiatives and drive progress.
What areas will you be focusing on in your advisory capacity?
My role will be to bring an academic perspective to the administration. I respect that Kelly Fox understands the university's mission, and my job will be to ensure that the academic perspective continues to be considered. This includes identifying administrative friction points for faculty and finding ways to improve processes.
How do you envision this role supporting the university’s advancement of Momentous?
By focusing on just that—helping ensure that administrative processes are working to enhance the faculty’s contributions to scholarship, research, and education. For example, hiring a postdoc should follow a different process to hiring other staff in that reference letters are required in advance of considering a candidate. So, how can we automate this (as is done for faculty hires)? Can we find ways to enhance the administration of research grants? These small improvements can add up to significant gains.
How does that advance the teaching & research nexus?
First, we need to gather faculty feedback. As a fellow faculty member, I believe faculty will be more likely to share their opinions with a peer than with a high-ranking administrator. That said, we will need to create an advisory group that will help us align strategies with faculty needs.
What technological advancements do you anticipate will be necessary to achieve the university’s future goals?
There's a lot of potential in using large language model AI to streamline processes. For example, we could use AI to de-identify medical research data automatically, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations while saving researchers valuable time. These advancements can make operations more efficient and empower faculty to focus on their core missions of research, education, and discovery, opening new possibilities.
What are you most looking forward to in this next phase of your career at Rice?
I've always been dedicated to making Rice a better place. Now, I have a broader footprint to do that beyond IT. It's great to have leadership that understands the importance of the academic mission. I’m looking forward to working with them and Rice’s faculty to foster an environment where faculty can focus on their research and teaching, while also ensuring our administrative systems are as efficient and supportive as possible.