A onetime research associate at Yale, Mr. Updegrove will return there to direct a staff of 250 responsible for academic and administrative computing, voice and data communications, printing and reprographics, and the computer store. "Dan Updegrove has been a visionary leader for the whole Penn community, with his special combination of cutting-edge technological expertise and deep humanistic commitment to the University's central goals," said Executive Vice President John Fry. "Yale is very lucky to have him."
President Judith Rodin called Yale fortunate to have successfully recruited "one of the great talents of the information age. As we have worked to move Penn into the 21st Century technologically, "she said," Dan has been a wonderful advisor to me and an invaluable asset to our team." As colleagues on Penn Printout put it, under Dan Updegrove's leadership "networked computing moved into the mainstream of life at Penn."
Mr. Updegrove did his undergraduate work in engineering and graduate work in urban studies, both at Cornell, and was a teaching associate there before joining EDUCOM--where he began as a program director and rose to vice president.
He was recruited to Penn from EDUCOM in 1989 as assistant vice provost for data administration and information resource planning. In that post until 1992, he led the development of a strategic plan for Information Systems and Computing (ISC), deployment of relational database systems campus wide, the design a University data model, and the upgrading of information security. He then became associate vice provost for ISC and executive director of Data Communications and Computing Services (DCCS).
Among his major projects at Penn were the wiring of the dorms for data, video and voice communication (ResNet); the development of campus-wide communication systems from PennInfo to the Penn Web; and universal access to PennNet and e-mail.
He has been chair of the PennExpertise Committee and co-chair of the ResNet Steering Committee, Electronic Mail Task Force and Network Architecture Task Force. He has served on numerous others bodies including the Penn Web Steering Committee, ENIAC 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Center for Community Partnerships Advisory Committee on West Philadelphia, Bookstore Advisory Committee, and National Center on Adult Literacy Technical Advisory Board. He has also written extensively for Almanac and for Penn Printout.
Off campus, he chaired the Board of Directors of PREPnet, the statewide component of the Internet; helped found and direct LibertyNet, a successful community network; and advised the School District of Philadelphia and the Franklin Institute Science Museum.He has also served on the Visiting Committee for Lehigh University, and on the NACUBO World Wide Web Advisory Committee.
Starting May 1 Mr. Updegrove's email address will be daniel.updegrove@yale.edu.
Almanac
Volume 42 Number 28
April 16, 1996
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