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NIU Chief Information Officer Coryell to begin April 7

March 31, 2014
Brett Coryell

Brett Coryell

New Northern Illinois University CIO and Vice President for Information Technology Brett Coryell will begin work at NIU on Monday, April 7. The 47-year-old will oversee the university’s information technology infrastructure and will report directly to the president as a member of his cabinet.

Previously, Coryell spent nine years as a deputy CIO at two top-tier institutions with responsibilities that spanned nearly all areas of information technology. Most recently, he served as Emory University’s deputy CIO.

“Brett’s skill set and experience in improving IT functions and integrating technological resources from across the university will serve him well at NIU,” said NIU President Doug Baker. “I expect that he will hit the ground running in an effort to set up the university’s new data warehouse.”

Coryell, who was hired Feb. 28, said it was NIU’s reputation that attracted him to the position: “NIU has some mind share farther outside the confines of Illinois than most people would believe. NIU stands for something bigger than itself. This university is going places, and if I can have a chance to be a part of that, I am ready to help make positive change.”

At Emory, Coryell oversaw the University Technology Services Division, which consolidated the functions of academic and administrative IT and network communications. There he earned a reputation for making IT operations more efficient through improved project and service management.

Prior to his seven years of service at Emory, Coryell was executive director and deputy CIO for IT at Purdue University.

“I’ve been fortunate to have wide-ranging experiences. That helps me be a worthy partner in the many types of conversations IT encounters in an institution as diverse as NIU,” Coryell explained, noting his background as a teacher and technologist.

Before Purdue, Coryell held senior management positions at Sprint, where he helped direct its consulting organization, participated in the introduction of new mobile devices and oversaw IT domains ranging from application development to infrastructure.

Coryell holds a B.S. in physics from Purdue and an M.S. in computer science from the University of Virginia.