Information Technology Services (ITS) welcomed Kenneth Stafford as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice Provost for Information Technology Services at K-State on Monday, Aug. 9.
As CIO, Stafford leads a staff of about 200 technical and nontechnical professionals. He has strategic oversight of services including networking and server/storage infrastructure and services; academic, administrative, and instructional technologies and support services; desktop support; technology training; information and technology security; infrastructure for research computing; data and information management; communications; and university IT policies, standards, and procedures.
Stafford has an impressive history of past work experience, including his most recent position as Vice Chancellor of Technology at the University of Denver from 1998 to 2010, where he was responsible for network security, academic computing, Web technology, mobile computing, network services, computer operations, multimedia services, and more for a campus system with 22,000 users, 35,500 Internet connections, and extensive wireless operations.
He has been the Chief Financial Officer for the College of Agriculture, University of Idaho; Vice President for Finance and Management, Maryland Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources; Vice President for Administration and Finance, Bowie State University; and Associate Vice Chancellor and CIO, University System of Maryland.
Stafford has consulted for many universities in the U.S. and abroad and has worked on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. He designed the first nationwide computer network for Egypt; provided information system design and management consulting for three universities in the People’s Republic of China; and was the 2001 keynote speaker at the Saudi Arabian National Computer Conference. He was named the CSIA Celebrity All Star CIO in 2009. He also chaired the 2009 and 2010 Colorado IT Symposium and presented at the 2010 Campus Technology Summit in Phoenix.
Stafford grew up on a farm and cattle ranch in Idaho. His grandfather was born in Smith Center, Kan., before homesteading in Idaho. As time permits, he returns to Idaho to farm and drive cattle. Stafford is married to Kristie Stafford, an attorney. Their hobbies include photography, golf, and exploring, especially historic places.
